


Children and Soldiers (Blake Arc)

by Somerandomguy



Series: Children and Soldiers [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Contains OC, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Implied Relationships, Multi, tragic backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-09-20
Packaged: 2018-02-18 14:46:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 33,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2352179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somerandomguy/pseuds/Somerandomguy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blake Belladonna has a past she would rather forget. Sapphire Fall has a past with the White Fang that haunts him even till today. When he attends Beacon academy and finds one of the people he's out to kill, what will the ex-mercenary do? As a former member of the White Fang with numerous sins, what will Blake do in return?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Lone Soldier

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I suck at summaries, but I think that pretty much covers what this story will be about. As stated, this story contains an OC, but it will also revolve around the main characters. An AU of sorts, if you will.
> 
> I plan to expand on the characters through Sapphire, so I hope you'll stick around for a read. There might only be implied relationships (for now), so if that's not your cup of tea I'm sorry.
> 
> I had to remove this story from the site due to some problems, but it's back now, so if it looks familiar to you, this is the same story!
> 
> Without further ado, please enjoy:

He remembered the blood. He remembered the screams. He remembered the carnage, and the violent pillars of flame, enveloping the world with its vermillion glow.

He remembered the laughter. He remembered the rage. He remembered the callous yet vengeful force of that incoming tsunami of destructive energy. He remembered the pain that erupted over every nerve and cell of his body.

When he finally woke up from the nightmare, Sapphire Fall's eyes had become swallowed by fear and despair. The man's irises, true to his name, slowly became ignited by a flickering, cloudy red as two transparent trails blazed down his cheeks.

-

"Absolutely not," Glynda snapped, slapping a palm onto the fine wooden desk. "Do you know how dangerous this will be? There're so many faults I can't even begin to-"

"It'll be fine, Glynda," Ozpin assured her. "The potential dangers aside, this is a necessary step for him. If they can't do it, then no one can. The members of the team are clearly the most suited for this cause."

"They are _children_ ," Glynda emphasized. "For goodness sake, one of them is even underage. Do you really think that-"

"Those are possibilities, Glynda," Ozpin said. "All that you've mentioned are simply possibilities. I won't deny that my desired outcomes are mere possibilities as well, but if we do nothing, they will remain possibilities and nothing else. If we leave him as is, he will die in a matter of weeks, maybe days. Instead of watching him die, wouldn't you prefer to take a bet to see if he lives?"

Glynda pursed her lips, not retorting in the way she usually would. The look in Ozpin's eyes told her quite plainly that he was not going to give in. The man's adamant nature had often been the reason for many of his failures, but even she could not deny that it had been the cause of his countless successes as well.

"The possibilities will stay possibilities if we don't take action, Glynda," Ozpin repeated. "We need to make a move to see which future lies in the wake of our choice, even if that means forgoing an outcome we know will surely occur."

"Fine," Glynda conceded. "Bring him in."

"I thought you might see things my way," Ozpin said, smiling as he leaned against his large chair. "As a matter of fact, all the necessary preparations have already been made."

Glynda rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh.

-

"Hey, guys," Ruby said, fidgeting restlessly. "Why are we standing here again?"

"For the sixtieth time, Ruby," Weiss complained, crossing her arms across her chest. "We are waiting for the new transfer student. She doesn't know her way around Beacon, so she's going to crash with us for the time being. Try and get that through that thick skull of yours."

"Keep it together, sis," Yang encouraged with a wide grin plastered across her face. "You're going to meet a new friend here!"

"Not helping, Yang," Blake pointed out, rolling her eyes when the young leader openly groaned at Yang's exclamation. "She's here; I feel it."

"Stop being so sensitive to your surroundings, Blake," Weiss said in her usual commanding tone. "You want to keep your Faunus identity a secret, don't you?"

"Weiss!" Ruby gasped, looking around the empty front gates hastily. "People might hear-"

"Shh!" Yang hissed. "I see her!"

Approaching the team was a thin figure dressed in a simple grey t-shirt and matching pants, with a gait that suggested the person in question was intentionally walking slowly. When he stopped in front of them, his boots – thick, metallic and clearly modified for combat – could be seen reaching up to his ankles. But that was not the detail that attracted the girls' attention.

"You're a guy?" Weiss asked, the surprise in her voice suggesting he was some extraterrestrial.

"Um, yep," the man replied awkwardly. Ruby noticed that he had bright blue eyes, like pieces of sapphire jewels. "I'm Sapphire Fall. I take it you're Team RWBY?"

"Y-yeah," Blake answered, being the first to recover from her shock. "I'm Blake and this is-"

"I know who you all are," Sapphire replied quickly, his gaze not leaving the faunus. "You… No, it's nothing. I understand that I'm to follow you guys today?"

"Y-yes, that's right!" Ruby squeaked, having received a silent elbow to the side from Weiss. "I'm R-Ruby, the team leader! Nice to meet you?"

"Why are you posing that as a question?" Sapphire asked.

While Ruby fumbled with her words humorously, Blake narrowed her eyes at the forest beyond the school. Her bow twitched, suggesting that her enhanced senses had picked up something.

"This isn't a test, I hope," Sapphire whispered, barely audible to anyone besides Blake. "You've got terrible taste as usual, commander."

Swinging around and kicking up one foot swiftly, Sapphire fired something out of his boot that flew towards nothing, until a wild Ursa rampaged into view from the foliage and into the trajectory of the item. The object struck the beast with a light 'clunk', barely fazing the monster. As the girls of Team RWBY looked at him in surprise (and disbelief, with a tinge of disappointment), a deafening explosion slammed the Ursa back into the forest.

"It wasn't a rock, by the way," Sapphire explained. "It's a Dust Grenade. I did hear that explosives were going to be a problem at school, but that doesn't count, right?"

"Good aim."

Following his sudden compliment, Ozpin seemingly materialized out of thin air and stood behind the five children, sipping coffee from his trademark mug.

"You really don't waste any time, commander," Sapphire said, smirking. "Oh wait; it's 'Professor Ozpin' now, yeah?"

"Professor sounds like a safer term," Ozpin considered. "But that Ursa was actually meant for the girls to prove their skills to you, you know."

"It takes one Ursa to show off four girls?" Sapphire asked. "Your school's gonna close down after they graduate and you're going to face a lot of lawsuits over dead children."

Right on cue, a horde of angry Ursas clawed their way towards Beacon, aiming for the group of young, tender meat standing aimlessly in front of the school.

"That's more like it," Sapphire said, charging off.

"Confident, isn't he?" Weiss observed. "Arrogant and eager, too."

"That's just how he is," Ozpin sighed, shrugging. "Oh well. Take this opportunity to observe how he fights, then; it's not as if he'll be doing a lot of it from this point onwards."

"Wait," Blake interjected, as Sapphire leapt into the air and ripped off an Ursa's head with a front flip axe kick. "What do you mean by that? Isn't he a student at Beacon?"

"Well, be that as it may," Ozpin conceded. "His purpose here is not to study or fight. I sent him here for… rehabilitation, if you will. And that's where you all come in."

At those words, Team RWBY turned away from the fight and looked at their headmaster, completely at a loss. Not too far from them, Sapphire's Aura flared dangerously as he lifted an Ursa with one bare hand and swung it around like a baseball bat.

"He's a troubling child," Ozpin explained. "I cannot divulge too much; that's up to you girls to see how deep you can go. I will say two things, though:

"First, his Semblance is that the closer proximity he is to death, the stronger he becomes, and he is currently a dying man whose fighting only worsens his condition."

That one point was enough to garner looks of complete bewilderment. There were too many problems with that one sentence that no one knew where to even begin.

"Second," Ozpin went on, clearing his throat. "He'll try to make sure you girls don't fight at all, because he would rather do it all himself."

"Wait; does that mean we're gonna babysit him or something?" Weiss asked incredulously. "Why is he even here if he can't fight as a team member?"

Ozpin took a deep breath before releasing a slow sigh. Holding his silence a few moments longer, he finally said:

"Because he's the sole survivor of a mercenary group killed by the Schnee corporation and the White Fang," he finished. "And I want you four to make him remember what having comrades means before he loses everything."

As his ominous words hung in the air like the stale odor of death, Sapphire crushed the last Ursa's head with one hand, sending a sickening crunch echoing through the still air. His eyes, now burning circles of scarlet, stared into the distance at something only he could see.

"You're next, Mercury," he muttered, his irises blazing with a cold fire that roared with ferocity of a million beasts. "Then I'm coming for you, Adam."


	2. A new Roommate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team RWBY attempts to find find Sapphire a room.

The distant sounds of a skirmish barely reached his ears over the sounds of his metallic boots striking the concrete floor as he sprinted. He tried to mask the noises with his own panting, but his body was simply not tired enough to grant him that reprieve.

"Hey, Sapphire," a familiar voice said next to him. "Don't go and space out on me."

"Yeah, I got it," Sapphire replied, hastily reducing the weight of his steps to hide the sounds of his running. "We'll be going back alone now, though; think you can handle it if they catch up?"

"Oh, please," his partner – a man with silver grey hair and dark grey eyes – replied with a lighthearted wave of his hand. "This is nothing."

"Sure," Sapphire said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Be on your guard, Mercury; we have to assume that-"

"Dude, I got it," Mercury said, cutting across Sapphire's words impatiently. "I'm actually taking this seriously, you know."

Sapphire said nothing, instead settling for a small nod. He knew that Mercury, despite his carefree nature, was a dependable ally to have. Even though he was incredibly worried about the unexpected turn of events, Sapphire was capable of keeping his calm simply because his partner was with him.

The mission had been simple: retrieve an illegally seized container of Dust owned by the Schnee company. No one knew who the culprit was, and Sapphire's group was not interested anyway; they were simply told to go and take it back from the abandoned factory where the thieves had made into a makeshift fortress.

Along the way, they had met with considerable resistance from security sent by the Schnee company – both human and machine. The fighting that broke out was only to be expected, considering that despite being on the same side they had nothing in common. However, what had not been anticipated was the appearance of the White Fang, who attacked both Sapphire's group and Schnee security alike.

To make matters worse, the White Fang had sent Adam Taurus and 'Monochrome'.

Adam Taurus was someone who Sapphire earnestly did not want to fight. He had been named 'the samurai' before they finally learned his name, and two men had died just to attain that information. His weaknesses were completely unknown, and he was a man of fearsome skill, capable of eliminating the entire team if he really wanted to.

Monochrome was an enigma. Up until now, no one knew the name of the elusive cat faunus who was Adam's partner. Along with the discovery of Adam's name, they had managed to find out that she was indeed a cat faunus who often kept her ears beneath the black bow on her head. With her providing backup, Adam truly had no blind spots when fighting multiple people.

Now they were here. Together, along with the Schnee security. Forget the objective; Sapphire would have been glad to just be able to get out of there alive.

"Why must everything be so messed up?!" Sapphire complained, as they dashed into the forest towards the agreed upon rendezvous point, while enemies slowly but surely closed in from behind.

"Relax," Mercury said, managing a small smile. "This'll turn out just fine. There's the temple."

The temple had been designated as the base of operations this time, as well as the place to go once the mission was over, successful or not. Not only was it a shelter, it was also a makeshift armory that would allow them to fight back a small army.

"Well, at least it's still intact," Sapphire sighed, looking around. "Doesn't seem like anyone else is here, though-"

Before he could complete that sentence, the mercenary was sent flying into the temple by a strong force. He had faced it several times in training, but never as harsh as this: it was Mercury's kick, possibly fracturing some bones as it blew his body through the door.

Clumsily getting to his feet, Sapphire opened his mouth, only to shut it almost instantly. His blue eyes now tinged ever so slightly with a tiny bit of red. Mercury was looking at him, wearing that trademark smirk that now reflected a completely different meaning.

_He betrayed us._

That one sole thought coursing through his head, Sapphire watched as the man he once called his partner turned his back on him and walked away.

"Mercu-"

A small sound cut apart that name. It was soft and insignificant, but the killing intent that followed it sent chills down Sapphire's spine.

Staring down at his prey through his mask, Adam Taurus let the shine from the tiniest sliver of his exposed blade announce his location in the dim darkness of the sacred walls of the temple. The small light, weak as it might be, captured the entirety of Sapphire's attention, much like the soft sound of unsheathing the moment before.

"So he even leaked the location of this place, huh?" Sapphire muttered to himself. He could not simply let Mercury walk away, but he knew that he could not just give chase and let Adam cut him in two. "Fine, whatever. I'll take you on then."

With a powerful roundhouse kick, Sapphire fired off his last Dust Grenade at the White Fang swordsman. It exploded within inches of his face, but when the debris cleared it appeared to have done no damage whatsoever. Even his sword, which was used to block the explosion, was completely without as much as a scratch.

Having started his sprint before the grenade even exploded, Sapphire thought he was ready. He genuinely believed that he had a chance against the swordsman whose unknown abilities were the greatest weakness of his Semblance.

He realized his own arrogance the moment he heard that laugh.

He remembered vaguely the movement of the blade as it left the sheath. He hazily recalled the ghostly echo of that man's laughter as it rumbled through the air.

He barely felt the pain before the world was drowned in a blazing scarlet hue.

-

Heaving a light sigh, Sapphire returned to the group in front of Beacon, where the girls stood with looks of surprise on their faces. Ozpin merely looked grim, not that there was anything new about that.

"Does that count as a test?" he asked as though nothing was wrong. "Do we get extra points or something for that?"

"If it were that easy, Beacon would be a school for biology and not fighting," Ozpin replied.

"Guess so," Sapphire said, shrugging as he turned to the members of Team RWBY. "But we're not cleaning up that mess, I hope. So, what now? I don't think introductions are necessary, so perhaps you girls could show me around?"

"Er-Erm," Ruby looked around at her teammates with pleading eyes.

"W-we could go to the dorm," Weiss suggested, causing Ruby to give her an endearing look mixed with relief. "We'll introduce you to some of our friends, I guess."

"Whoa, Weiss," Yang exclaimed. "Didn't expect you to be so forward about helping people make friends."

"Hey, I know these things!" Weiss snapped. "Besides, we have to talk to Team JNPR about letting him stay in their room!"

"True," Blake agreed. "Unlike them, we only have girls in our team, so it'll be problematic if he crashes with us."

"Well, let's go then!" Sapphire said with a cheery voice and a wide smile which everyone understood instantly to be a façade. "Okay, sorry; that was awkward."

-

"Soo…." Nora said, dragging out the 'o' in her usual sing-song voice. "We have to let him sleep in our room?"

"Yes," Weiss replied flatly. "With Jaune and Ren in your room, we figured your team's room would be-"

"Why can't they allocate him one of the transfer students' rooms?" Pyrrha asked, emerging from inside the room.

"Remember the bunch of transfer students who came in a few days ago?" Blake reminded her. "They took up the only available rooms, and Yang destroyed the other available ones when she… you know… _that._ "

"Oh," Pyrrha replied, sighing as she replied, bringing her palm to her face. " _That._ "

"You blew up an entire block?" Sapphire asked, eyes wide. Yang faltered. "Why?"

"The building had a bunch of vines growing on the walls," Blake explained, casting Yang an exasperated look. "She got her hair stuck on it and had a couple stray strands pulled out. She just lost it and destroyed the entire building. Luckily it was empty, or she would have faced expulsion."

"I doubt it," Sapphire said. His gaze instantly shifted from one filled with hostility to the reserved look from before. "The com- I mean, he would probably treat it like a good joke unless you actually injure someone."

"You should've seen Goodwitch's face," Nora piped up. "She was scaaary!"

"Don't remind me!" Yang pleaded desperately. "I don't want to think about what she- oh my god, no!"

"Aaaanyway," Nora went on, clearly enjoying the effect her words had on the blond girl. "We can't take him."

"What?" Weiss asked incredulously. "Why?!"

"Because we want our private time~" she replied, reaching into the room and pulling out a wild Ren, hugging him until his face turned blue. "I'm sure Jaune and Pyrrha would say the same~"

"Er… Well…" Pyrrha muttered, blushing furiously as she busied herself with looking at the wall. "Um… I t-think that since he was put under your care, maybe you should, um, let him stay with you guys so you can bond properly."

Even Sapphire narrowed his eyes at that sentence.

"So these two are a couple?" he asked, pointing at Ren and Nora, receiving a big wide grin and a goofy nod in reply. "While she and this 'John' guy are together?"

"N-no!" Pyrrha vehemently denied, blushing even harder. "W-we're not! Kinda. I mean! Erm! What I meant to say was, it's 'Jaune' with a A-U-N-E not 'John' with an O-H-N."

"Sensitive to the name even, huh?" Yang teased, having recovered from her painful memories of punishment at Goodwitch's hands. "What a protective girlfriend… Jaune sure is lucky, huh?"

"Yang!"

"Okay, okay," Sapphire cut in, clearly getting tired of the situation. "What about you, Rose? You're the team leader; you decide."

"Eh?" Ruby jumped at the mention of her name, having tried to hide behind Weiss the entire time. "Um… Well… I guess… it's okay for you to stay with us for now?"

The other three members of Team RWBY sighed at the same time.


	3. Past, Present, Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diving into the past of Sapphire and his big sister, Cinder.

The air was cold and silent, its ephemeral presence prowling through the corners of the room like a predator circling its prey. The night was merciless, enveloping the moon with its dark shadows, preventing its glow from reaching the world below.

Fighting back the urge to cry, Sapphire Fall desperately clung to the bed sheets as though afraid that they would leave him. His black hair, much like his sister's yet nowhere as beautiful, melted into the darkness and left the six-year-old alone and vulnerable. On most days, reminding himself that he had the same hair as his beautiful, elegant sister made him feel better, and sometimes the act even reminded him that he was not alone. But not today. Not now.

The corners of his eyes were heating up. He tried telling himself that it was because of that accursed blanket trapping the heat, but even a five-year-old could have seen through that lie. Not that being a year older than that worked in his favor.

Six years. That made him practically a man. That meant he had to be strong. He was old enough to stand up for himself now, and probably strong enough too; Daddy had always said people naturally got stronger when they grew up, especially the boys.

"Sapphire?"

A familiar, mellow voice cut short Sapphire's little ritual of self-delusion. He was relieved to hear that voice, but he was also worried; the gentle tone she used told him quite plainly that she was worrying about him.

"Are you asleep yet?" she asked, softly closing the door behind her as she stepped into the room.

"Yes," Sapphire replied, before slapping his hands hastily over his mouth.

"I see," Cinder said lightly.

Nothing could be heard for a few moments, which Sapphire was both thankful and regretful for. However, mere seconds later, he felt her climb onto his bed and yank the bed sheets off of him, covering both of them with it instead.

"Well, if you're sleeping, you wouldn't know about what I'm doing, right?" she asked, a tiny smile on her face. It enhanced the finely chiseled features on her exquisite face, to the extent that it was difficult to believe she was only a few years older than Sapphire. "So you can't complain."

"I-I wasn't scared," Sapphire said defiantly.

"Who said anything about you being scared?" Cinder teased, chuckling.

Sapphire refused to meet her eyes, instead choosing to bury his face in the pillow to hide his embarrassment. He knew that it was futile, though; his Big Sis Cinder always saw right through him.

"Sapphire," Cinder whispered, her tone now a little serious. "Did you have another nightmare?"

Still not looking at his sister, Sapphire nodded meekly into his pillow. He was aware that he was shaking a little, but even with all the strength he could muster he could not make it stop. It just filled his body, invading every pore, every nerve, and every crevice of his soul.

He flinched when he felt something warm brush past his skin, but calmed down when he understood that Cinder had put her arms around him, pulling him into an embrace. Even then, the trembling did not stop.

Cinder knew the dark places her foolish little brother's mind wandered to; she had been there as well. Sapphire often had nightmares about their parents dying, despite never having actually seen it. The siblings had no confirmation that their parents were actually deceased, and Cinder had clung on to the childish hopes that they were still alive and well out there somewhere. Sapphire, however, started dreaming of different ways in which they might have died.

It broke him. Cinder often told him that he needed to be strong, but whenever she saw him crying she could not help but reach out and comfort him, even if that made him dependent on her.

"How bad was it this time?" she asked, the words burning like fire on her tongue.

"Bad," Sapphire replied meekly. "There was a boat and-"

"Shh," Cinder said, silencing her brother instantly. "Don't dwell on the details."

"A-are you angry?" Sapphire asked, looking up timidly.

"Yes," Cinder replied, making the young boy wince as though she had just whipped him with a chain. "I'm missing out on my beauty sleep because a certain little brother wouldn't be honest with his Big Sis Cinder."

He gulped. She had seen through him. Again.

"You want to cry, don't you?" she asked. "You can cry now, you know; I'm right here. I won't laugh."

"I…" Sapphire began, his voice hoarse from fighting back tears. "I don't cry. Big boys don't… cry…"

"Okay, that made me feel old," Cinder replied, pouting a little. Sapphire managed a shaky laugh.

"You'd still be Mom' and Dad's 'Cinderella' no matter how old you are," he said. Now it was Cinder's turn to laugh.

"And you'll always be my little 'Jewel'," she replied. "You becoming a big boy doesn't matter. You still have to cry when you want to."

"Only you call me that," Sapphire muttered, finally returning his sister's hug while burying his face in her chest.

He said nothing after that. He knew that Cinder was right; he did want to cry. He wanted to let the tears flow. But he also wanted to be strong. For her, for himself, for-

"Don't think," Cinder whispered, stroking his hair. "Obey."

Like magic, the eerie silence looming over them shattered. Sapphire's ears recognized that agonizing, sloppy noise as it proceeded to ricochet off the walls, driving away the nothingness of the night. He recognized the wretched wails that had escaped his lips again.

He gasped for air, each intake accompanied by a salty liquid that blazed down his cheeks endlessly. He could smell his sister, he could feel her warmth, but they were now somehow distant as they encouraged more tears out of his eyes.

It was on nights like this that Cinder Fall held back her own tears, just to listen to her brother cry.

-

Sapphire ran. He was sprinting, panting, scared out of his wits, as he held on tightly to Cinder's hand.

He knew the streets. He knew where they were. Cinder did not have to drag him around so roughly. She did not have to squeeze his hand so hard.

She did not have to have such panic etched across her face.

In his numb, confused mind, the nine-year-old Sapphire tried to process what he had just seen. What had just transpired. But the more he thought about it, the more questions did he end up with.

The soldiers were coming. There was some war going on, so that was only logical. So why were Sapphire and Cinder running? They were not soldiers. They were just children; why did they have to run?

"Keep running, Sapphire," Cinder panted, desperation evident in her voice.

"Sis, why-" Sapphire began.

"Don't think; obey," Cinder said hastily. "Please."

That shut him up. The use of the command was one thing – it had been the one thing she reinforced as an elder sibling – but it was Cinder's tone that terrified him.

She was scared. The beautiful, perfect Big Sis Cinder was scared of something.

A deafening roar shook the air as flames and smoke engulfed part of a nearby building. It lasted no longer than a few seconds, as the sharp reports of various weapons drowned out the already dissipating noise.

Within the cacophony of disembodied screams, gunfire and explosions, Sapphire yelled. He wanted to say something, to tell her something that would make her feel better, but the merciless destruction around them overwhelmed his pitiful cries.

Then he saw a jet of red erupt from Cinder's arm, causing her to let go of his hand, but not before she shoved him back into the alleyway they had run out from. Stumbling backwards, Sapphire vaguely wondered why she had let go, why she was kneeling on the ground, and where that red liquid had come from, before he realized that it did not fall from above.

It had come from Cinder herself.

The soldiers had opened fire when they saw people suddenly emerging from the alleyway, but when they found out that Cinder was just a child, they left. Sapphire never did see the soldiers to begin with, much less see them leave his big sister alone.

In his panic, Sapphire tripped, accidentally swallowing a mouthful of dirt. He hurriedly got to his feet, running clumsily towards Cinder.

"Sapphire!" Cinder yelled, reaching out towards him. The narrow alleyway they were in only had tall buildings at the sides, making it difficult for the young boy to see the object hurtling towards them.

Trapped between the towering walls of shadow, Sapphire dashed helplessly towards his sister who was kneeling in pain just beyond the exit. Bathed in sunlight and dressed in dust and blood, Cinder's face was twisted by despair. The sight made tears threaten to burst from Sapphire's eyes, but he held them back with violent control.

Like his sister, Sapphire reached out for his sibling, completely oblivious to the falling helicopter spiraling towards them. When Cinder finally managed to scream out for him to stay away, Sapphire was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a large ball of fire filled her vision.

A large chunk of flaming metal seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, bursting into flames between them. Cinder was knocked back by the sheer force, her body hurting so badly she thought she had been set aflame.

"Sapphire!" she hollered, running towards the entrance of the alleyway, now blocked off by the smoldering wreckage of burning metal. "Sapphire! Sapphire!"

"Sis!" Sapphire's voice called out, barely audible through the din of the ongoing carnage. "Are you-"

Cinder did not hear the rest of that sentence. She never did. All she heard through the grim laughter of the frolicking flames and the sneer of despair was the sound of gunfire on the other side of the wreckage.

Within that gunfire, a single boy's whimpers escaped, before vanishing forever into nothingness.

-

Cinder Fall leaned against the callous wall of Beacon's corridor, feeling its cold, unwelcome touch as she let her mind wander.

Her name was Ruby, she had said. She not only looked young; she behaved like a small, frightened child as well. Seeing her reminded Cinder of a certain boy. A certain boy who had been cruelly taken from her many years ago.

She remembered her words to Emerald and Mercury after the report on Pyrrha Nikos' abilities. She recalled the hatred for the world that had spurred those words.

Towards the world that had taken away the most precious people in her life, Cinder swore she would be the one taking this time. Just like she had told Emerald and Mercury, this was not about overpowering the enemy; this was about taking away what powers they had. She wanted them to lose, and she wanted them to live with that loss; she would not even grant them the consolation of death.

Towards the world that had killed her brother without a second thought, without a shred of mercy, Cinder had sworn revenge.

The images returned. She was alone again, eyes burning, watching the armored aircrafts scourge the skies, leaving nothing in their wake.

_Don't think. Obey._

Cinder sighed. How different those words had sounded when she said them now.

-

"I hope you have a good explanation."

"Now, now, Glynda," Ozpin said cautiously; one wrong word and Mt. Goodwitch would erupt. "He simply acted before I could step in, that's all. Besides," he added, seeing that Glynda was about to say something else in protest, "He was going to have to demonstrate his abilities to the girls sooner or later. If he ended up sparring with one of them, there might be casualties, so wouldn't you agree that this worked out for the best?"

Glynda did not retort, although she did not cease her glaring either. Ozpin waited patiently for her to soothe her nerves with deep breaths; he had made many mistakes in his life, and provoking an angered Glynda Goodwitch was one he never wanted to repeat.

"So what now?" she asked at last. "Is he going to behave or is he going to get in the way of the students?"

"He is tactful enough," Ozpin replied. "However, it would be in his best interests that he stay away from the dangerous areas unless strictly necessary."

"That goes without saying," Glynda snapped. Her expression softened a little before she continued. "Will he be alright?"

"I cannot give you a definite answer," Ozpin confessed. "But there is one thing I observed that might be a glimmer of hope."

"And that is?"

Ozpin smiled. He leaned back against his chair as he ruminated on the words Sapphire had said in front of Team RWBY. Those might have been simple words that held no significance, even to the speaker himself, but they had managed to convey something to Ozpin.

"He still uses 'we' instead of 'I'," he answered.


	4. Monsters and Weapons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake confronts Sapphire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgot to add this before, so here it is:
> 
> Disclaimer: RWBY does not belong to me. All rights go to their respective owners. Sapphire Fall is my original character, though, along with his weapons which you'll finally see here :)

Blake fancied herself a light sleeper. There were times she believed it was due to the training she underwent, and there were times she believed she was on constant high alert because she was afraid her cat ears would show and someone would find out. After that secret was exposed, Yang had attributed Blake's sleeping habits to her cat faunus nature, because "all kitties sleep lightly". She could never put a finger on the actual reason why, but it did not bother her much.

Tonight, however, it was driving her insane.

Since Ruby had given the go-ahead (Weiss lectured her for a good two hours afterward), Sapphire now crashed with Team RWBY in their room. He slept on a mattress placed in the corner of the room, which was hardly comfortable but he did not seem to mind. The problem was that since he was here, Blake had to start hiding her cat ears beneath her bow before she slept every night again.

Having experienced the comfort of sleeping without a bow thanks to the understanding of her teammates, Blake now found the bow and its scratchy texture to be unbelievably irritating when it kept waking her up from her slumber.

To make matters worse, Sapphire constantly groaned in his sleep. No one else picked up on it, but Blake's heightened Faunus senses could hear him loud and clear.

Granted, Yang snored from time to time, but Blake had found creative ways around that problem. Sapphire, for all the noises he made, was a trained mercenary; she would rather not risk a violent retaliation for trying to stuff a sock into his mouth.

A startled gasp broke Blake's train of thought, announcing Sapphire's panicked awakening. With her handy night vision, she watched him leave the room with a haunted, pale look on his face.

That expression bothered her. Even Blake, who had been a member of the White Fang, had not kept Gambol Shroud with her when she slept; she always put it in the lockers provided like everyone else. Sapphire, however, wore those combat boots around the clock, even when he went to bed.

He was afraid of something. She was sure of it. There were times she saw a similar look on her reflection when she went to the bathroom at night. She knew that look; it was the expression of someone haunted by their own past.

Cursing herself inside her head over her curiosity, Blake slipped out after him.

-

She found Sapphire on the roof, where the remnants of two familiar scents still lingered. Blake identified them to belong to Pyrrha and Jaune, making a mental note to mention that the next time.

"You heard me leave the room?" Sapphire asked, looking at the night sky without turning around.

Blake jumped when she heard him speak so suddenly. She did not deliberately hide her presence, but being detected by the person she was following made her feel frustrated.

"Ever heard how 'curiosity killed the cat'?" he asked.

If Yang had said that, Blake would have rolled her eyes and chalked it up to another one of the blonde's lame puns. If anyone else had said it, she would not have paid it any heed. But the way Sapphire said it made her feel strangely uneasy.

"Why are you up so late?" Blake asked.

"Oh, right," Sapphire muttered, as though he had just remembered something obvious. "Faunus senses. I forgot."

Blake froze. He knew. She did not know how, but he knew. Had it been that obvious? If it really was that easy to tell, what if everyone in Beacon knew? What if they all knew, but kept it to themselves the entire time?

"H-how did you know?" Blake croaked, trying to and failing at keeping calm.

"I've been trained," he replied simply. "You're not the first Faunus to try and pass yourself off as a human."

"Was it that obvious?" she asked.

"To me. Do they know?"

"Yeah," Blake replied after a short pause. "They know."

"Why are you here?" Sapphire asked. The sudden question made Blake stare at him in confusion. "Why did you come here, disguise yourself as a human, train like one and discard your identity?"

Blake did not answer. With the sudden question flung at her out of nowhere, she could not answer. She just stood there in stunned silence, as he waited for her to reply.

"I have a past I'd rather forget," she decided. "I decided to change things my own-"

"Then what are you living for?" Sapphire fired back. "If you want to deny your past, why not just end your own life? What's keeping you alive?"

Turning around to face the Faunus Huntress-in-training, the black-haired mercenary's clear blue eyes bore into her own, amber ones.

"Do you know how I discovered my Semblance?" he hissed. "I was shot by a bunch of soldiers after a wrecked helicopter almost killed me and my sister. I felt myself dying; I could feel the life literally draining out of me as I lay there like a marionette without strings. Then I felt the world change.

"My body felt stronger. The world seemed to slow down except for me. I knew that if I just stayed there I would die, so I killed them. I killed even more after that, searching the streets for my sister. I never found her. There were no other survivors rescued when the commander's team arrived. I was the only one left, and I had killed no less than thirty people that day with my bare hands. I was nine."

Blake said nothing, and in that silence she urged him to continue. Even though she did not want to hear more.

"I spent my entire life resenting that weakness," he continued, his eyes harboring a cold rage unlike anything Blake had ever seen. "If I had been stronger, I could have reached her. I hated that weakness, so I spent my life fighting. I spent every waking moment battling. When the war stopped, I became a mercenary just so I could continue to fight. There was no good or bad in there; I just fought and fought and fought. I didn't care about morals; after all, this world didn't have any when it took away my sister.

"And then I lost everything again. My team – the people I could call my friends – all of them are gone. Dead. Betrayed by the man I once called my partner. Killed by Schnee's security, the White Fang, and you."

Blake gasped. She backed away from Sapphire, but the increase in physical distance did nothing to make him any less imposing.

"You were Adam Taurus's partner," he snarled. "He nearly killed, and is even now still killing me. I've lived my life for revenge, be it against the world or our – the team's – enemies. That's right; I live for the sole purpose of killing you, amongst the other pieces of trash I have to wipe out.

"But you. What are you living for?"

"I- I-" Blake stuttered, unable to say anything coherent.

"You want to forget?" Sapphire asked, rage dripping from every syllable. "You want to deny their very existences, especially when you helped to end so many of them? You dare to say you wish to forget?"

White his back turned to the moon, Sapphire's face was masked by shadows, leaving only those scarlet eyes glowing stubbornly against the night. They reminded Blake of Yang's eyes whenever she got angry, but the similarities were only surface deep; what concern and gentleness that could be found within Yang's anger were nowhere to be seen in Sapphire's eyes. Instead, they were replaced by rage, desperation.

And, inexplicably, a sorrow so profound it was wedged firmly into the crevice of his soul.

If monsters could cry, what would they look like? If they could weep, what would be heard?

Staring at the boy whose black hair and scarlet irises reflected the hostility of beasts, Blake thought she was looking at a Grimm. Those blood red eyes, that mass of black hair that melted into the night – reminiscent of the bodies of those monsters – and the rage of a lost soul, hurt and confused. Even though her mind was in a state of panic, Blake still felt something other than fear towards the monster before her.

Pity.

His eyes were filled with rage. His irises were drowned in fury. His voice was choked by hate. Yet, everything about the boy just felt… Sad. Looking at the mercenary who stood alone, yet always said 'we' whenever he was with the rest of the team, Blake had one peculiar thought coursing through her mind:

_If monsters could look this sad, would we still be able to kill them?_

"I-I didn't kill anybody," Blake said at last, having managed to find her voice. "It's true that I was once a part of the White Fang, but I never killed anyone I-"

"That's quite enough," Ozpin's voice said from somewhere. Somehow, he had managed to appear out of thin air again, holding that trademark cane of his. "All students have to be in bed at such an hour. It's important to have ample rest, you know."

Without another word, Blake turned and dashed for the stairs, vanishing from sight almost instantly. Sapphire, however, remained where he was.

"I can't kill her like this," he said, the anger ebbing away from his tone. "Those eyes… She's not the Monochrome I have to kill. Not yet."

"People change," Ozpin offered. "While I do not know about her past, I think it is safe to say that Ms Belladonna is not some cold-hearted murderer. I can vouch for that. As a matter of fact, I can vouch for everyone here in Beacon, including yourself."

"I live for revenge," Sapphire reminded him. "I belong on the execution grounds, whether or not it's my head that's on the guillotine."

"And yet, here you are. I'm sure you will find another reason to live for," Ozpin replied confidently. "Not everyone gets a second chance, but it doesn't mean that they can't choose to start over."

Sapphire said nothing. He had no intention of starting a debate anyhow.

"Perhaps someday you will find that there's more to life than just fighting and revenge," Ozpin said. "The first step would be to open up your heart to those around you. Maybe you could even tell them your sister's name, which you have not told even me."

"You came here just to tell me that?" Sapphire asked, becoming increasingly impatient.

"That reminds me," Ozpin said, producing two rectangular blocks – one white, one black – from seemingly out of nowhere and passed them to him. "Your weapons have arrived. It seems the maintenance managed to finish on time."

"I should have done it myself," Sapphire muttered, slipping on the gloves attached to the blocks. "I'm the one who made them after all."

With a swift forward thrust of both hands, Sapphire set both blocks into motion, producing a series of clicking sounds. The blocks unfolded into two crossbows resting against his arms.

At a glance, they looked like regular crossbows, albeit a little smaller to allow fitting onto Sapphire's arms. However, upon closer inspection, the elastic limbs of the crossbows were finely curved blades each with an elastic string – no doubt of great endurance – attached to the edges.

With a flick of his wrist, Sapphire watched as the crossbows folded themselves back into the blocks, but this time a sharp blade extended from their respective ends, reaching forward in the same direction as his outstretched fingers. While in crossbow form the blades had stretched out to the sides, now they were folded neatly in the middle, placed neatly next to each other as they pointed forward, resting on the back of Sapphire's hands like two giant, outstretched claws.

Returning the weapons to their crossbow forms, Sapphire inspected the front of the weapons, paying careful attention to the holes drilled just beneath the platform where the arrows would be loaded.

"Fair enough," he commented, reaching inside his shirt and pulling out a couple of small, thin arrows, loading them into each weapon meticulously and swiftly.

"Very interesting, as usual," Ozpin said, looking at the white crossbow on Sapphire's left hand. "Daybreak," he turned to the black one on his right, "And Duskfall."

"They feel alright," Sapphire admitted. "Just need to check their functions in battle now. When's the next battle class?"

"You should consider just trying them out without fighting," Ozpin suggested. "That would save you much pain, I daresay."

"Pain is nothing," Sapphire retorted dismissively. "Besides, I have to fight. It's all I live for."

"Well, if that's how you feel," Ozpin said, offering a fraction of a benign smile, "Why not spar with me right now?"


	5. Reason to Live

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sapphire takes on Ozpin as per the latter's request.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter 5! Do mind that I don't own RWBY, but:
> 
> Sapphire Fall and his weapons, Daybreak and Duskfall, are created by me. The song that'll be appearing from this chapter onward is also original. I figured I might as well give him a song of his own and well… That's it.
> 
> The tune would likely be difficult to imagine, so I might become temporarily insane and actually record the song and upload it somewhere. Don't look forward to that.
> 
> Aaanyway, moving on…

_In the world where heroes die_

_In the world where tears flow and never dry_

Sapphire looked up from beneath the blankets, searching for the source of that song. He had no idea what song that was, but he recognized the singer's voice. He knew it was Cinder singing.

_In the world where the lights wane and fade into the night_

_In the world where the monsters come and fight_

He always wondered what her expression must have been. He had never seen Cinder cry, but with the sorrowful tune of the song hanging in the air, what other expression could she be making?

_In the world where dreams are lies_

_In the world where innocence weeps and cries_

He pressed his ear against the cold wood, listening to the song. Where had Cinder learned it? He had only ever heard it late at night, when he was supposed to be asleep.

_In the world where your justice is nothing but a lie_

_In the night where the darkness ignores your cry_

He did not want to continue listening. He hated hearing Cinder's voice so sad. It made her seem much weaker than the usual, strong big sister she was supposed to be.

His hand on the doorknob, Sapphire paused. He had believed the song to be one of nothing but sorrow and despair, but the lyrics that followed made him stop. It made him think about Daddy's words. It made him want to keep listening.

Leaning against the door and humming along to the song, Sapphire let himself fall asleep with a faint smile on his face.

-

"Are you serious?"

Ozpin did not reply. He simply returned Sapphire's gaze, and in the absence of verbal exchange much was said with an uncanny eloquence.

Having received his reply, Sapphire attacked.

Despite the distance between them, Sapphire punched twice, hitting nothing but air. With a sharp 'click', two arrows shaped like thick needles launched forward, aimed straight at Ozpin's chest.

He was aiming to wound, not kill. With a millimeter of a smile, Ozpin deflected them with his cane with relative ease. Sapphire was already charging, firing another punch in the process. In addition to the clicking sound, however, a gunshot followed immediately after this time.

The bullet from Daybreak hit the same arrow fired just before, which had also been shot from the same weapon. The arrow broke in a burst of sparks, its body shattering in mid-air and sending countless pieces of shrapnel towards Ozpin.

"Visual deception," Ozpin stated calmly, jumping backwards to escape the tiny metal pieces that proceeded to dig deeply into the ground beneath his feet. "Using arrows that can be seen, then using a follow-up attack by suddenly removing the visual target, accompanied by a wide-area, faster attack. Dynes' technique, I suppose."

"You talk too much," Sapphire hissed, closing in and aiming a punch at the side of Ozpin's face. Before the fist could connect and before the arrow could fire, Ozpin had already pushed Sapphire's arm away with his cane.

Ducking to avoid the swing of the cane, Sapphire punched – and fired a bullet – right at Ozpin's feet. The older man simply stepped back with ease, while Sapphire used the force to push himself away.

"I'd like to request that you refrain from firing them," Ozpin said. "Too much noise will disturb the students, you see."

"Fine," Sapphire conceded, flicking his wrists and changing his weapons to their blade forms. Kicking off the ground hard, he charged again, drawing two silver trails by his side as he ran.

His first swing parried by that wretched cane, throwing off his sense of balance. Supporting his body on one leg, Sapphire used the momentum to throw a stab at Ozpin's left shoulder. When that too got parried, he kicked the ground hard and managed to produce enough force to pull off a front flip axe kick.

Anticipating the direction in which Ozpin would dodge, Sapphire swung his blade to the right, tearing off a piece of fabric from Ozpin's suit. He aimed another stab at his chest-

Before stopping abruptly and switching to a leg sweep instead. Without as much as a twitch to his body posture, Ozpin stopped the attack with his cane.

Regaining his footing, Sapphire stabbed at Ozpin's gut, only for it to be blocked by one hand. He aimed another at Ozpin's chest, which was evaded with ease. Using the built up momentum, Sapphire launched a roundhouse kick, but his leg hit nothing but air as Ozpin avoided it simply by taking a step back.

Unfazed, Sapphire leapt forward, his left fist and blade aiming for Ozpin's head while his right reached for the hand holding the cane. Ozpin caught the blade with two fingers, but allowed the mercenary to hold and immobilize the hand with the cane.

With a powerful jump, Sapphire brought up both legs, his body held in place by Ozpin's previous move. Launching both boots forward, he let loose a vicious kick at where Ozpin had been moments before, had he not let go of the blade and stepped to the side.

Bringing up the hand clutching the cane, Ozpin lifted one leg and kicked the back of Sapphire's knees, causing them to buckle. Using the momentary immobility created by being in the air, he pushed him down with his free hand onto the concrete, knocking the wind out of the young soldier.

"Stop," he said, placing the tip of his cane at Sapphire's throat: a warning for him to not try and move. "I think that's enough for now. Do you see the point I'm trying to make?"

"What're you talking about?" Sapphire snapped.

"You're not capable of fighting enemies beyond the caliber of monsters right now," Ozpin explained patiently. "Your Semblance might make you strong; I'd wager you might even be physically superior to anyone in Beacon right now, but that doesn't mean you'd necessarily win a battle. Your speed and power are amazing, but the more you fight the more it adds on to the burden your body experiences. No one can fight like that."

Sapphire involuntarily winced, evidently proving Ozpin's point.

"The more your abilities increase," Ozpin went on, "The more pain and damage you cause yourself. That pain and damage contribute to increasing your abilities even further, which in turn worsens your suffering. That might be effective against the Grimm, but that would never work against a proper Hunter or Huntress who has technique."

Sapphire lay there, unmoving, as he listened. His retort had died at his throat.

"You've become better at hiding your pain," Ozpin observed, removing his cane. "It must hurt, especially after that scuffle you had at the front gate. You realize the similarities you and the Ursas you destroyed share, yes? You both have bodies and physical power greater than any normal human being, but you can't control them. Such a man cannot be allowed to fight."

Getting down onto one knee to look Sapphire in the eyes, Ozpin switched to a less stern tone.

"We do not live in the past," he said, his voice ringing in Sapphire's ears. "We learn from it, but we ultimately move on. You let the past motivate you, shape a part of your identity, but never let it control you. Like Professor Oobleck rightly says all the time, 'if you cannot learn from it, you are destined to repeat it'. You cannot treat yourself like a weapon solely meant for revenge; you have the responsibility to those who have left their footprints in your past. You owe it to them to see yourself as a person, and you deserve happiness just like everyone else."

As much as Sapphire wanted to ignore the long-winded lecture, he still heard every word. He wanted more than anything to deny those words, to vehemently object, but the words had already triggered something in him.

"I'm not asking you to stop," Ozpin said, getting to his feet. "All I ask is that you observe the world around you a little more before you dive into battle. You might see some interesting things or people that will change your mind."

Having spoken his mind, Ozpin turned and walked away without another word, leaving only the night sky filling Sapphire's vision with countless spots of light across a dark, overbearing canvas.

Now alone, Sapphire slowly got to his feet, before collapsing to his knees with a groan; the pain was unexpectedly bad. Using his hands to support himself, stubbornly refusing to fall, he stared at the callous grey concrete as a few dark circles bloomed on it before his eyes.

Sapphire paused to look at those circles. It was definitely not rain, so it had to be the perspiration. Had he been that worked up over that farce of a battle with Ozpin, though?

Several droplets fell this time, staining the concrete with circles of darker grey with their sheer volume. Sapphire opened his mouth to voice out his bewilderment, only to hear a shaky breath escape his lips.

As he stared, Sapphire began feeling the heat from the warm rivers sliding down his cheeks, threatening to become a roaring cascade. He shut his eyes, hoping to squeeze out the last of the tears and stop them for good.

But they did not end. Burning hot liquid burst from his eyes, despite his efforts to keep them contained. His voice returned, only to have been reduced to nothing but choked whimpers.

"What do I do?" he whispered; his intended holler had lost all strength, drowned out by his tears. "If I can't fight, what am I…?"

Sobbing, the black-haired soldier lifted his head – an action that by no means slowed his tears. The trails burning like acid down his flesh from the blue jewels that were his eyes sparkled, flickering helplessly against the massive shroud of the night.

"What do I do, Sis?" he pleaded. The rest of his words, his thoughts, vanished in a wave of fresh tears.

-

Silently leaving the wall she was leaning against, Yang Xiao Long paused briefly before descending the darkened steps.

 _Asking about Blake can wait, I guess,_ she said to herself in her head. As she walked, the echoes of her footsteps did nothing except howling the question ignited by the sight of that former soldier.

_If either Ruby or I lost each other, would the one left behind be like that?_

In the distance, in a place no one could reach, a broken marionette cried.


	6. Common Interests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby and Sapphire discover their common interests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings and thank you for reaching up till Chapter 6! The first character to be covered will be Blake Belladonna, with some others here and there. Team RWBY members will get their turns for character development, and Team JNPR will be added in between. But let's go to Blake's arc for now.
> 
> Without further ado, please enjoy!

"Hey Saph, what's that?"

Looking up from the pair of blocks in his hands, Sapphire shot his teammate a grin.

"It's my weapon," he declared, wearing them on his arms. "Or weapons, rather."

"You customized them on your own?" his teammate asked, eyes wide with surprise. "Gosh, I didn't figure you were a weapons nut."

"Hey, it's efficient," Sapphire defended, alternating Daybreak from crossbow mode, to default harmless block, to gun mode (or rather, mini arm-cannon mode), to bladed form. "This way it's both a melee and a ranged weapon."

"Yup, weapons nut indeed," the other man said, receiving a playful kick in the shin.

"Mark my words," Sapphire said in a mock threatening tone, the mischievous smile not leaving his face. "Someday, someone will come to appreciate custom weaponry."

"Yeah, like the goofballs at Signal," his conversation partner replied, rolling his eyes.

-

Weiss Schnee, ace huntress in training who never suffered from indecision, was torn between confusion and exasperation. Last night, Blake had burst into the room in the middle of the night, clumsily tripping over tables, chairs, and even her own bed, waking everyone up. She refused to talk about it, and Yang had left the room in a hurry upon hearing Sapphire's name being mentioned. When the usually bubbly blonde returned, even she just kept quiet and shrugged off any enquiries with vague replies.

Now, to make matters worse, her blundering buffoon of a team leader was ogling at Sapphire's weapons, completely forgetting the events of the previous night and instead focusing on the white and black blocks on his arms. Now that she thought about it, Ruby had only been half-awake during last night's little incident. The hopeless dolt was honestly beyond saving.

"Is that a custom-made weapon?!" Ruby exclaimed, practically glowing with excitement as her silver eyes sparkled.

"Er…" Sapphire looked around for help, but Yang was not paying attention and Blake was concentrating on her untouched breakfast. That left only Weiss.

"Ignore her," she said, turning back to her food with a roll of her eyes. "She's a complete weapons maniac!"

"I am not!" Ruby protested, momentarily pulling her gaze away from Daybreak and Duskfall to retort. "I just have a fascination about weapons is all!"

"You customize your own weapons as well?" Sapphire asked hopefully.

"Yup!" Ruby declared proudly, drawing Crescent Rose from her back and letting it morph into its scythe form. "This is Crescent Rose!"

"A foldable scythe… No, it's part rifle," Sapphire observed. "It can fire even in its folded up form, right?"

"Sure!" Ruby exclaimed happily. "It fires in scythe form just as well!"

"So the blade can be used as a foothold against recoil," Sapphire mused. "How did you solve the problem with the blades and the smaller fixtures that interfere with the axis?"

"Oh, sweet lord," Weiss groaned, bringing a palm to her forehead. "Now we have TWO weapons maniacs here."

Completely oblivious to their surroundings, Ruby and Sapphire continued their animated discussion about weapons. Blake occasionally stole a glance or two at Sapphire, looking at the expression that appeared to be genuine amusement.

How was he able to smile after last night? The person Blake had encountered the night before was in no way even remotely similar to the laughing youth she saw now.

_I live for revenge._

Those words echoed in her head ominously, bringing with them countless images of her life before Beacon. She thought about the face behind that mask, that blood-red hair, as they faded into the distance because of the carriage she had cut. Because of the decisions she had made. Because she had chosen to leave him behind.

What if he lived for revenge after that, now after Blake's life? What would she do? Blake was not someone who plunged her hands into the blood of her enemies willingly. She had not walked the path of the demon because she had enjoyed the bloodshed and the violence.

Yet, the bloodshed and violence followed her even now.

"Hey, I've got a question," Ruby said, suddenly becoming a little more reserved. "If those Gunknifebows are your weapons, then what are the boots for?"

"Is it odd to be fighting with two pairs of weapons?" Sapphire asked, raising an eyebrow at the name 'Gunknifebow'. "The boots are… sub weapons, I guess. I do have the tendency to use them for time to time; our training demanded that we have more than one set of weapons just in case we lose our main one in combat. Aura and Semblance are typically last resorts."

"Can those boots fire off anything other than grenades?" Ruby asked.

"Yes," Sapphire admitted. "It functions as a mobile armor, because of its nature as a prototype for a semi-automated weaponized armor. I had to reduce its specs to compensate for my condition, though."

"Your condition?" Weiss asked, not liking the sound of that; she had heard of something similar being developed by her company, but those were meant to be prosthetics meant for people who had lost their limbs.

"The com- Ozpin didn't tell you?" Sapphire asked. "Figures. The cells in my legs are constantly breaking apart right now, and this leg armor repairs that damage around the clock. It preserves my legs to an extent and prevents the disintegration from reaching the rest of my body. The constant work it has to do made me remove some of its battle capacity."

Blake froze. The world was spinning all of a sudden, even though no one else seemed to notice.

He nearly killed, and is even now still killing me.

She understood it then. Sapphire had somehow survived Adam's technique at some point in his life, but he had not emerged from it unscathed. The effects of that attack were still slowly but surely eating away at his body, killing him while powering up that suicidal Semblance.

Noting Blake's unnatural shaking, Yang suddenly stood up and grabbed Sapphire by the sleeve of his uniform.

"Hey, Sapphire," she said in a strangely tense tone. "We gotta talk."

-

"Calm down, blondie," Sapphire said briskly. Then he noticed the look on her face. "Whoa, I thought you were the sunshine of the group. Why the-"

"I overheard last night," Yang said abruptly. The lighthearted look on Sapphire's face slid off almost instantly. "I was looking for you because I thought you said something to Blake, and she was really shaken by it. Then-I-saw-you-and-it-made-me-think-of-me-and-Ruby-and-I-wanted-to-both-as-a-sister-and-a-member-of-the-team-talk-to-you-about-it-because-I-really-don't-like-it-when-things-get-gloomy."

Sapphire blinked once. Twice. Thrice.

"Could you slow down and speak English?" he asked.

Taking a few deep breaths, Yang calmed herself down and repeated everything at a slower pace. When she finally finished, Sapphire simply looked exasperated.

"First off, how much did you overhear or see?" he asked, his voice flat.

"Some parts of the fight," Yang admitted. "And what happened afterwards. I want to apologize for that, but I also want to know what happened. Blake is a precious teammate and an irreplaceable friend, but I just can't bring myself to ask her right now."

"I see," Sapphire sighed. He was already cursing himself inside his head for being so soft. "If you must know, I told Belladonna I'd kill her because she was once a part of the White Fang and murdered my team."

The scene seemed to freeze. Even Yang, the cheerful bundle of energy, could not find a reply. Sapphire waited her out, as though he had already gotten used to such situations.

"I know she's not a part of them now," he said, when it seemed like Yang would not be speaking up anytime soon. "And I know she's more docile than your typical murderer, so much so that it'd be difficult to believe she'd do something like that. But it doesn't change the fact that she's someone I must kill."

"Is that what your sister would have wanted?" Yang asked.

Sapphire stiffened. He had not expected that comeback.

"I don't mean to pry," Yang went on. "But I have a sister I have to take care of. And I know that I would never let her become a murderer. I'm not just asking for Blake; I'm also asking as a big sister: please don't live for revenge. I mean, look at you! Your legs are-"

"Ozpin was right," Sapphire said, cutting her off. "You guys really don't get it. Even though you're training to become Hunters and Huntresses, you can't understand what we do."

"That goes for you, too!" Yang raised her voice, a red glow dominating her once lilac eyes. "Why can't you see things the way a normal person would?! Why don't you care about yourself or other people?! That kind of stubbornness almost cost me and Ruby our lives! I don't want to see someone else make that same stupid mistake!"

"What is there to care about?" Sapphire snapped, his voice dangerously low. Now that he was agitated, his control wavered, turning his eyes a deep shade of red. "Everyone I ever cared for has died. I'm a rotting pile of flesh inches away from death. What is there to care about besides revenge? Do I have to sympathize with those who took away what I valued?"

Yang was about to say something else, but decided to calm herself instead. Her eyes bore into his – those red irises must have resembled hers, even though they felt worlds apart – searching for something. Something her instincts told her had to be there. She held up one finger.

"One week," she said, "Take one week to observe Blake and then you can decide what to do then. How's that?"

Sapphire was unsure if he was supposed to laugh or yell at her. There was no way he was going to listen to her, to follow that absurd, arbitrary rule.

"You could study the way she fights," Yang added, as though she could read his thoughts. "In that time, you can learn more about her. Then you'll see that she's not the White Fang goon you're out to kill."

Would being with these children – these naïve Huntresses-to-be – really change his perception? The unwavering spirit that burned in Yang's eyes told him that she was dead serious. She had that much faith in Blake, the woman whose past she did not know much of. In her teammate. Her partner. Her friend. It was a sentiment that not only piqued his interest, but tightened the knot in his chest.

"Okay, Big Sister," he said. "One week."


	7. Right and Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake debates between right and wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Chapter 7! The story's been planned pretty far now, so I do hope you'll stay with me till the end! It might be quite a long journey, so brace yourself!
> 
> Do note that Cinder's espionage suit and combat abilities will be taken with reference from the original series as of Volume 2 Episode 7, and might change depending on the canon.
> 
> Anyway, please proceed for Chapter 7!

They treated them like monsters, so they donned the face of monsters.

They forced their hand, so they retaliated.

They refused to recognize them, so one side had to fall. If co-existing was not possible, the extermination of one side was not only logical, but necessary.

Forcing herself to believe those words, Blake Belladonna wore the face of a Monster.

-

Blake had seen many things in her life. She had been dragged into countless dangerous situations and had always emerged victorious, generally unscathed to boot. Her mind was always calm, clear, and she always knew what to do.

Now, she could not for the life of her figure things out.

The only source of light available was the small lamp on the table. All around her, darkness permeated the walls, circling the tiny bright spot in the center of the room.

"Perhaps I wasn't clear enough," her interrogator said, pushing up her glasses as her blond hair swayed lightly above her eyes. "I wanted to hear the truth, Ms Belladonna."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Blake replied truthfully.

"Is that right?" the blonde asked. "Well then, maybe we can try getting a little… Creative."

"W-what are you going to do to me?" Blake asked warily. She recognized that tone, and it sent shivers down her spine.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that," the woman replied, an evil smile blossoming across her face. "We just want to be a little persuasive to get you to cooperate, that's all."

"Yang, I-" Blake began.

"Silence!" Yang roared, slamming a fist onto the table, making the lamp shake dangerously. The action made the sunglasses slide off her nose a little. "I wish to hear nothing but the truth from you! And since I have not heard that yet… Men!"

From their respective corners of the room, Ruby and Weiss walked forward, seemingly having forgotten of Blake's night vision. While the Ice Queen put her arms beneath Blake's armpits and locked her fingers behind Blake's head, Ruby began to remove the bow on her head.

"H-hey!" Blake protested, but it was useless; Weiss might have been physically weaker than she was, but the position they picked had given the heiress the upper hand.

"I hereby sentence thee…" Yang declared, holding up a feather. "To continuous Faunus-ear tickling until you answer!"

Blake instantly turned white as sheet.

-

"Are they always like this?" Sapphire asked, listening to the ruckus pouring out from Team RWBY's room.

"Only sometimes," Pyrrha replied, shaking her head with a small giggle.

"Yeah, only when they're together," Jaune added, joining Pyrrha for a laugh. "You should have seen the crater Ruby made on the first day here."

"And are you guys often like that?" Sapphire asked.

"Like what?" Jaune and Pyrrha asked at the same time.

"Do you always come here to make out on the roof while the other two do it in the room?" Sapphire clarified. "Or do you guys alternate between who gets the room and who gets the roof?"

Pyrrha instantly went red in the face, her wide eyes staring into the distance. Jaune just simply started stuttering.

"Ah-I-Er-I-I-er-" he fumbled, then found the word he was looking for. "Yes."

There was a moment of silence where Sapphire smirked and nodded to himself, while Pyrrha stared at her boyfriend in open disbelief.

"Jaune!" she scolded, more in utter shock than anger.

"I-I-What I meant to say was," Jaune tried, hastily correcting himself. "W-was that Pyrrha and I sometimes come here to practice. F-fighting, of course! Sparring and the like!"

He managed a weak, awkward laugh after that, but it did not wipe of the look of disapproval off of Pyrrha's face.

"Well, I guess I won't disturb you guys then," Sapphire offered, heading towards the stairs. "Good luck with your – ahem – 'practicing'."

"It's not what you think it is!" Jaune and Pyrrha protested in unison.

-

Raising a hand to knock, Sapphire paused when he found out that the door of Team JNPR's room was still ajar. He considered just walking in, especially given the cacophony from Team RWBY's room. Opting for the more civilized part of the façade he chose to wear in public, he rapped his fingers on the fine wood.

"Come in~" Nora's unmistakable sing-song voice replied.

"W-wai-" what appeared to be Ren's voice protested, but Sapphire had already walked in.

"I thought I'd return this," he said, holding up the bottle of Samurai Shampoo. "It had 'Lie Ren' written on- What in the name of all that's holy are you doing?"

Ren groaned as he let his face sink back into the mattress. He was naked save the one towel wrapped around his private parts, and Nora was sitting on him, hands on his back.

"Back massage!" Nora responded happily. "We used to do this every night before Ren became too shy for it for some reason~"

"Right," Sapphire replied, dragging out the 'i'. "Well, I won't get in the way of this very… interesting… thing… that you're doing. Uh, have fun."

"Thank you~"

"W-wait, it's not-"

-

_What am I doing?_

Sapphire sighed, continuing to walk aimlessly.

 _They're all just a bunch of kids,_ he thought. _There's no point in pretending to be in love just to act normal, but why on earth are they bothering with crap that won't help them in combat otherwise?_

He had seen faces like that before. Faces that belonged to his comrades. Faces blinded by the irrational thought they called love.

Faces that eventually become dyed in despair.

His name had been Tyler Morris. Her name had been Amelia Anderson. They had made no attempt at hiding the fact that they were dating. After particularly difficult missions, they would kiss openly and vigorously, often causing Sapphire to roll his eyes and pretend to gag while Mercury made supposedly witty remarks about them next to him.

He died protecting her from a drone attack. It was slow death, with a laser burning right through his spine but not his heart. She felt him die in her arms, slowly but surely bleeding out every last bit of life in him. But before he could even breathe his last breath, she was stabbed through the heart before his eyes. Simple actions, simple facts – all happened so swiftly that it was difficult to process nonetheless.

Sapphire remembered the scene that became emblazoned in his mind. It all happened so quickly he had thought he was dreaming. He recalled little of what happened after that, except for the smoldering hell that greeted him when his mind finally recovered from the shock. From what Mercury told him afterwards, Sapphire had gone on a rampage, destroying everything and anything that stood in his way. The prototype for the Mobile Armory Combat Boots (MACB) he and Mercury had been testing at the time broke from his excessive use, but not before it unleashed fiery destruction on the entire facility in the form of lasers, explosives, bullets and small missiles.

He spoke to the commander shortly after that. Instead of reprimanding him, the man had consoled him, saying that he was glad Sapphire had lost his cool over his teammates. He had said that rage was proof he had a 'heart', and solid evidence that he did not live solely for fighting, no matter how much the boy denied those words.

"Your anger for them proves you have a caring heart," Ozpin had said. "It is that sentiment you possess that convinces me that hope still remains."

That was the day Sapphire was chosen over Mercury to be the test pilot of 'Lifesaver'.

-

Reaching for the hidden zipper on the side of his pants, Sapphire unzipped them all the way to his thighs, revealing a large cluster of intricate silver machinery. Each leg was covered up till just above the knee with a complex looking machine resembling a long boot, but lined with countless gears and parts amongst a knife, a gun, a row of grenades and a belt of ammunition.

Taking out a case of Dust and loading it through the slit near the top, Sapphire waited while the machines hummed softly. He had originally refused to be the test dummy for it, but Lifesaver – a prototype for some kind of fully weaponized leg armor – was now what kept him alive from Adam's attack. He scoffed at how the nameless machine had been named by Ozpin, the man who seemed to really like naming things for some reason, in the way it had despite originally being a weapon.

This was what the life of a Hunter was supposed to be. This was the life Sapphire and those around him led: They put their lives on the line constantly, whether they were in a mission or not. But what of these children? They fall in love, have fun, act like actual kids, but they claimed to be warriors; what part of them could fight and win a war?

A curious man called Qrow had once told him that he fought to protect the laughter and smiles of those around him. He told him that he battled to preserve the peace kept by those who could not fight. If everyone wielded a weapon, there would only be violence. Peace could only be established and maintained by those who do not swing around the intent to kill. In the end, it was the duty of those who hold the weapon called Violence to protect those who would bring about peace. For those who could not protect themselves.

Listening to Blake Belladonna's laugh, muffled by the door of her team's room, Sapphire grit his teeth in annoyance. He had promised her one week, and no more.

-

Panting heavily as she tried to find words to express her feelings, Blake twitched every now and then. Her teammates were equally exhausted, having spent much energy restraining the Faunus for so long.

"You're… tougher than you look," Yang panted.

"I… Should have never… Told you guys… My ears were sensitive…" Blake replied, not bothering to get up from the floor. "What on Remnant… is this about…?"

"We wanted to know about what was bothering you," Weiss replied, groaning as her arms ached. "We wanted to hear the full story and then help you and Sapphire get along."

"I told them some parts," Yang said, sitting up. "But I thought it'd be better for you to tell us yourself."

"You could have just said that to begin with," Blake complained, getting up and massaging her Faunus ears. "I had no idea what was going on because you didn't tell me what you wanted to know!"

"Oh," Yang said. "I forgot to mention that? Oops! But it was fun, so I guess that ended well!"

"I swear, Yang…" Weiss groaned, fixing her hair as she sat on her bed. "My lifespan's shortened because of you."

"But it was fun!" Ruby cheered, still lying on the floor. "I didn't know Blake could shriek like that! It was so cute!"

"Give me a minute before we begin," Blake requested, striding over to Ruby.

"U-uh, Blake?" Ruby asked fearfully, backing away from her. "U-um, I- WAIT! WHAT'RE YOU GOING TO DO WITH-"

Yang made a mental note to count the number of times Ruby yelled 'uncle' after that.

-

"So that's it," Blake concluded. "I can't say I blame him, but… But I…"

As she struggled for the right words to say, Blake let the resulting silence fill in the gap. Yang was tactful enough to keep quiet, Ruby was sprawled on the floor in an undignified manner, and Weiss was fuming.

"Is that it?" She asked, causing everyone to look at the white-haired girl. "That's all you're concerned about? Do you have any idea how worried we were because of that?"

"Wh-what're you-" Blake began, but Weiss stopped her with a raised index finger.

"So what if that happened in the past?" She snapped. "What're you so worried about? He's clearly in the wrong for forcing all the blame on you! He said it himself that he was a mercenary who didn't take sides; that'll just make him more enemies out of people who've already chosen one! Besides, they wanted to kill you, right? You just fought back in self-defense! Which idiot wouldn't fight back when someone else tries to take their life?! Even that blockhead Ruby has enough common sense for that!"

"Hey!" Ruby said in protest.

"Wow, Weiss," Yang commented. "I didn't expect you to say that."

"Y-yeah," Blake agreed. "That was kinda unexpected."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Weiss asked. "I was actually worried about you and this is what I get?!"

"Weiss!" Ruby yelled, pouncing on the Ice Queen and hugging her, causing both of them to collapse back onto the bed. "You're the best teammate ever!"

"G-get off me, you dunce!" Weiss said, struggling to get out of Ruby's hold. "And you say something too! You're the team leader, aren't you?!"

"What's there to say?" Ruby asked, letting go of Weiss and looking at her team.

"Excuse me?" Weiss snapped, staring at her with a mixture of anger and disbelief. "Were you not listening to anything we've been discussing this whole time?!"

"I heard you loud and clear," Ruby replied, shielding one ear to protect it from Weiss's yelling. "But what I'm saying is that there's no need to fret."

"What do you mean, sis?" Yang asked.

"There's no way Sapphire would kill anyone," Ruby pointed out, looking a little surprised that no one else had noticed the elephant in the room. "He didn't know what he was doing back then, but he certainly won't kill Blake now. He's a part of Team RWBY now! Even though his name isn't in it…"

"What makes you so sure?" Blake asked. She knew her team leader was confident about many things, and was naïve in equal measure, but this was something else. "He used to be a mercenary; he probably has killed people before for simple revenge or money or something like that."

"But you haven't," Ruby replied. "You were a part of the White Fang but you haven't killed anyone yet. Sapphire's definitely the same; whatever painful memories he has, he won't kill you or anyone. He's a good guy. That's why professor Ozpin trusts him enough to bring him here, right?"

"Well said, sis!" Yang praised, pulling Ruby into a choke hold while playfully messing up her hair. "And also, Blake: remember what Ozpin said the first day Sapphire came in? We were to help him remember what having comrades means! We'll help you, so you can start by getting along with him!"

"We're all friends, aren't we?" Ruby asked, still at Yang's mercy. "And friends help each other out!"

Deep down, Blake wanted to agree. She wanted to believe that those words were true. But as much as she trusted this team, she could not forget those words Sapphire had said.

Blake Belladonna had been an existence surrounded by solitude. Facing a problem that was the boy who stood by himself in the sea of rage and despair, she had the support of the people she could call her friends. She was no longer alone, and she was certainly not afraid or weak. Not anymore.

"Yeah," she said at last, offering her team a warm smile. "You're right."


	8. Living Armories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Falls engage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter 8!
> 
> I just realized that the way I made Sapphire and the way Cinder fought in the original series (at the point of Volume 2, Episode 7) actually fit quite well considering their relationship in this fanfic, hence the name of this chapter. Lucky me!
> 
> Anyway, here we go:

Sapphire listened to the man go on and on about something he did not really care about. He did not know who the man was, but the fact that he was the man who gave orders was enough to prevent him from punching that annoying mouth shut. For the time being, anyway.

So he had displayed aptitude for several different types of weapons. So what? Everyone on his team had been trained to be able to wield anything from a stick to a Death Stalker's stinger. They were strictly ordered to carry around a melee weapon and a ranged weapon at all times, which Sapphire had managed to follow by creating Daybreak and Duskfall. That act seemed to have attracted the attention of the higher-ups. Well, that and what he did with the MACB.

"I've seen you in action," the man whose name never registered in Sapphire's head said. "You're capable of handling any kind of weapon, and when it's possible, you're partial to dual-wielding. You prefer arrows over firearms and shorter blades over actual swords, yes?"

"Yes," Sapphire replied curtly. "Sir," he added.

"I was told you modified the Combat Boots after receiving them," the man continued. "What you did in that skirmish with the drones was exactly what we wished to achieve with those weapons. Now, I hope you will agree to test out something even stronger."

Sapphire nodded. It was not as if he had a choice in that matter anyway.

"It has no name yet," the man went on, satisfied with his answer. "But it's not like MACB which will only cover your feet. It's larger and hence has a larger range of weapons and tools. It's like if you could produce any weapon you want out of thin air. Don't you think it'll be the perfect support for battle?"

"Yes, sir," Sapphire muttered. "But what's the catch for all its impressive functions?"

"We altered the design of a recently released advanced prosthesis by the Schnee company," the man said. "It can also artificially regenerate cells in the body, healing wounds more quickly, granted it can't regrow limbs. It's a perfect balance of offense and defense."

In the end, he never did cover the downside of using it. As Sapphire found out later, every other person stupid enough to try it on had died because of the modifications they made. Sapphire's intervention was more to modify it to prevent that issue rather than test the monstrosity itself. Fortunately, his own Semblance saved him from joining that death count.

After it saved him from Adam's attack, the machine began to crumble. While it saved Sapphire's body from disintegrating on the spot, the mercenary's body was not unharmed. In the few desperate seconds where his Semblance flared and made the world slow down to almost a pause, Sapphire altered the machinery to maximize its healing properties. As a side-effect, it also sealed most of his Aura, making his Semblance a lot weaker than it should have been.

Ever since then, he had not released the full potential of his Semblance. If Sapphire ever crossed that line, it would be when the machine could no longer be called a Lifesaver. It would be when Sapphire, fueled by the full throttle capacity of his Semblance, became the perfect weapon alongside the full power of the lethal mobile armory. It would be when he was ready to die, undoubtedly dragging the world along with him.

That line, as well as the one form Lifesaver never took, was appropriately named 'Genocide Mode'.

-

"Dynes speaking."

"Hey," Sapphire said into the receiver, his tone grave.

"You know, Saph," the man on the other end of the call said. "If you keep talking like that, someday they'll hire you to give eulogies at funerals."

"You sound chipper," Sapphire replied.

"As well as I can be," the man answered. Sapphire imagined he must have shrugged his shoulders as he said that.

He was Patrick Dynes, a former member of the mercenary team Sapphire had joined. He was forced to retire shortly after Sapphire was recruited, but the two of them talked a lot after Mercury's betrayal. He was by no means combat ready like Sapphire, having lost an arm and a leg in one of the larger scale missions. Even his odd Semblance, which allowed him to manipulate people's memories, could now no longer be used as often as before.

"How're you holding up?" Sapphire asked. "You had a checkup scheduled today, as I recall."

"The usual stuff came up," Patrick replied with a hint of boredom in his voice. "Doctor told me to find ways to keep my stress levels low, and said if I kept using my Semblance I'd either die or suffer severe irreversible memory loss myself. I can quote him word for word now. Honestly, I'd tell him to stop wasting my time and money if not for the sexy nurse who works with him."

"So you just need to stop using your Semblance," Sapphire concluded. "Sounds easy enough."

"I guess," Patrick agreed, albeit somewhat halfheartedly. "How're you, though? Beacon any fun?"

"Hardly," Sapphire replied, heaving a sigh. "I don't get to work out much."

"With good reason," Patrick said, his voice stern. "You really ought to go for that sur-"

"Nice talking to you, Pat," Sapphire cut across him. "Glad to hear you're alright."

"Wait, Saph-"

But Sapphire had already hung up. Staring into the distance for a few seconds, the black-haired mercenary headed back to the dorm.

-

His first reaction upon entering the room was to ready his weapons. The following reaction was a groan muffled by a facepalm. Then he sighed.

"Alright, who started it?" he asked, walking into what seemed like the aftermath of a hurricane. Or a horde of trampling Ursas.

Pillows in hand, all four members of Team RWBY demonstrated superb teamwork by pointing to one another: Ruby pointed at Yang, Yang at Blake, Blake at Weiss and Weiss at Ruby.

Cursing under his breath, Sapphire surveyed the damage caused by the pillow war. He was surprised to find that there were no holes in the walls and ceilings to suggest the usage of weapons.

"Goodwitch is gonna pop a blood vessel," he muttered. "How are you guys not expelled for stuff like this?"

"Weiss's background is very persuasive," Yang replied, earning a pillow to the face.

As retaliation followed shortly after, signaling the start of Round Two, Sapphire could feel a vague pang of jealousy swelling up inside him.

The smiles on their faces were genuine and the happiness they felt was true. How could people live like that despite being fighters, as though they had not a single care in the world? Where did they find that shield to keep out the sorrows of reality?

Hastily leaving the room, Sapphire almost immediately collapsed against the wall. Leaning against the callous concrete, the former soldier clamped a stiff hand to his chest, where a sharp pain emanated.

Was he envious? Was he bitter that those could experience a happiness he had only experienced briefly in a distant past, as a mere fragment of a now shattered dream? He was a soldier. He was a mercenary. He was a killer. He had no use for those pointless emotions.

Yet, the tight knot in his chest simply would not untangle itself.

With trembling lips, he began to hum. He hummed the song his sister used to sing, being unable to speak. He tried to soothe his nerves, to regain his shaky control, but he could feel it slipping.

"Fall?"

He instantly went silent, looking up from where he sat at the familiar face of Blake Belladonna with as stoic an expression as he could muster.

"What're you doing?" she asked, closing the door behind her.

"Trying to avoid the active war zone," Sapphire replied, his voice still somewhat shaky. He failed to notice that the noise on the other side of the door had already died down.

"What was that song?" Blake asked after pregnant pause, sitting down next to him and bringing her knees to her chest. One of the many advices given to her had been to try and get to know Sapphire on her end first, which she was somehow pulling off. "The one you were humming just now."

"Faunus hearing," Sapphire grumbled, in the same way one might say 'dog crap on my shoes'. "It's a song my sister used to sing. Don't ask."

 _Because if you ask, my big mouth and I would share it,_ he thought.

"Can you sing it now?" Blake asked. "We could both use the change of mood."

Sapphire wanted to retort. He wanted to flare up and have a repeat of the night he threatened to kill her. But he did make a promise. One week. Besides, Belladonna was right about the change of mood. Who was he kidding? He simply wanted to sing to soothe his nerves.

So he sang. He simply stopped thinking, and sang.

_In the world where Heroes die_

His voice was nowhere as pretty as his sisters, but the words still came out powerful. Now that his ears heard not only the tune but the lyrics as well, Sapphire's control over his emotions slowly returned.

_In the world where tears flow and never dry_

He remembered random images, all flashing by in his memory like a film on fast-forward. He thought about the night when he was six, hugging his sister to sleep while crying.

_In the world where the lights wane and fade into the night_

He remembered the things he did as a mercenary. He had disguised himself as a Faunus, wore women's clothing, and even pretended to betray his team in order to lead them into the enemy hideout with the signal from the tracking device he held.

_In the world where the monsters come and fight_

Feeling a light weight on his right shoulder, Sapphire turned and saw, much to his surprise, that Blake had fallen asleep. It could not have been her intention, but the Faunus's head had come to rest on him.

Sapphire wanted to laugh. What idiot would let their guard down in front of an enemy like this? He could kill her so easily now. One arrow to the forehead and it would be over in a second. While thinking that, his hand slowly reached for her throat.

He could also choke her. That would cause her a slow, agonizing death so she would be able to regret her foolish behavior, both in the past and now.

But he hesitated. Killing someone who could not fight back seemed so wrong somehow, even if it was Monochrome. Sapphire knew it was not because he was attracted to her. Then what was stopping him? The fact that he had made a promise? Or was it something that he had denied having a long time ago?

"I'm sorry…"

He heard that mutter which sounded uncannily like a whispered prayer.

"I'm sorry."

Then he heard it again. A tinge of sadness was now mixed in, escaping from the lips of the White Fang murderer in her sleep.

"I'm sorry."

Continuing to listen, Sapphire kept still and let her sleep.

Then he saw it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a black shadow disappear at the end of the corridor. His senses instantly switching to high alert, he gently pushed off Blake's head and took off softly, following that figure. Blake may have been a light sleeper, but the fatigue and sleepless nights after being threatened by Sapphire had taken their toll and she did not wake at that action.

But he could not simply let her sleep like that outside. Knocking on the door to team RWBY's room hurriedly before chasing after the source of an uneasy feeling, Sapphire activated Daybreak and Duskfall.

-

Cinder cursed herself for her stupidity. She was still in her espionage clothes from prowling through some parts of the school, and the faint sound of a song had drawn her in before she changed her outfit. Why she had gone to find the source of that song was unknown even to her.

It could not have been him. He had died years ago, when he was nine. Why was she getting so worked up over it?

"Hold it, miss."

Somewhat glad that she had kept the suit and mask on, Cinder stopped and turned to look at the man who had spoken, undoubtedly the same man who had been singing. His black hair danced in the wind like the mane of a wild animal.

"It's such a beautiful night, you know?" he began, smiling mischievously. Cinder noticed his blue eyes. They looked- no, they _felt_ unnatural, as though they weren't originally of that color. "Such a gorgeous woman like yourself shouldn't be hiding that pretty face behind a mask."

 _His mouth reminds me of Mercury,_ Cinder thought to herself. _He reminds me of someone else, too. But who…?_

"I know it's hard to listen to a guy with two crossbows on his hands," Sapphire said. "But y'know, I could put them down if you just take off that mask and wig."

Although Cinder was not wearing any wig, Sapphire had simply assumed that she was; after all, with hair like that, he could easily recognize her without the mask just by body structure, hair and eye color alone.

"You're making me feel really popular, you know that?" he went on, checking his surroundings. The courtyard they were standing in was not big, but it had enough space for him to fire his arrows and bullets without much worry about getting hit by a stray ricochet. He was pretty sure that this place was remote enough to avoid attracting too much attention as well, which lowered the chances of reinforcements coming in. "How about we get to know each other over coffee and cak-"

A fireball rumbled through the air where his face had been merely moments before with a shrill whistling sound, exploding into countless sparks and flares when it hit the wall behind him. When he looked up, the assailant had a dark long bow in her hands and an arrow ready to fire.

Breaking out of his roll and sprinting towards his adversary, Sapphire fired an arrow of his own. It hit her arrow in mid-air, resulting in a small explosion. Using the smoke as a cover and changing his bows to their bladed form, Sapphire emerged from the cover and slashed.

With a sharp 'clang', his blades met her own pair of grey ones. They were bigger than his, but Sapphire's arm strength was greater. Using one hand to force the pair of blades away, he stabbed at her shoulder.

The masked assailant let go of her swords and used her bare hands to block both of Sapphire's blades. Instead of slicing through flesh, Daybreak and Duskfall had been stopped by what felt like a solid wall of air.

Sapphire continued his assault, launching a flurry of slashes and stabs that drove her back, even if she continued to block every attack. When he thought he could land a fatal blow, Sapphire quickly jumped out of the way before a large spike composed entirely of Dust crashed into the ground with the force of a small meteor.

 _She's good with Dust,_ Sapphire thought. Unlike him and the mercenaries he had fought with, who used machinery instead of Dust directly, this woman could manipulate Dust skillfully. Not many people Sapphire knew were capable of such a feat without the use of some sort of assistance from machinery or the like. She could create any kind of weapon she wanted, and change her strategy to match her opponent's fighting style and the situation. _No matter; I'll just up my arsenal to match hers._

Slicing off a large part of his pants, Sapphire revealed the two metallic legs that made up Lifesaver. Even if he could not have an entire armory with him by freely manipulating Dust, he had the machine that would make up for it.

If having a wealth of weapons at one's disposal made that person's value as a fighter akin to a diamond's monetary value in the times before Dust, then Cinder would be a naturally formed one while Sapphire would be an artificial diamond. In a contest of strength, the damaged good that was Sapphire was not optimistic about his chances.

Pulling a gun from its slot in the armor, Sapphire fired two bullets as he ran in a circular pattern around the masked woman, throwing the gun at her after the fourth shot.

"How about this?" He asked, pulling out another gun while using the other hand to activate Duskfall and fire an arrow. "You just tell me your name instead of removing that mask, yeah?"

He was already sure he could not hope to distract her that way, but Sapphire tried it anyway; for some reason, he was feeling somewhat chatty. Perhaps Belladonna's sudden change of behavior had something to do with it.

Cinder kept silent as usual, and grabbed the gun as she continued to block the projectiles. Sapphire pulled his thumb away from the gun's grip and pressed a button on the side of the gun, causing the gun in Cinder's hand to explode with a strangely yellow light, along with several sparks of electricity before she could throw it away.

Falling to her knees, Cinder kept still as though she could not move. The explosion had not caused much damage beside a light burn on the hand which held the gun, but it had been infused with well-measured infusions of different types of Dust, making it capable of paralyzing the enemy for lengths of time.

Throwing away the gun in his hand, Sapphire fiddled with Duskfall and in a split second, fired off an arrow. This one was a tranquilizer, and would be enough to settle the fight-

However, Cinder rolled to the side, dodging the arrow and launching another set of spikes at Sapphire. As the mercenary avoided them with a backflip, she got to her feet, summoning the same pair of knives she used at the beginning of their fight.

Changing Duskfall back into its bladed form, Sapphire parried every oncoming blow with his own, mirroring Cinder's actions. It was the first time he had fought a dual-wielding opponent who could manipulate multiple weapons like he could, but for some reason, Sapphire found it surprisingly easy to read his opponent's moves. That could only mean one thing: she was merely playing with him.

Without warning, Sapphire let loose a Dust Grenade, blowing a hole in the ground while sending dust and debris everywhere. Lifesaver responded according to the electric signals its user sent out, and the resulting stress was what caused its previous testers to die of brain activity failure. Sapphire's unique Semblance made his thinking and reaction improve when close to death, which saved him, and now he had leash on this wild beast. In the battle with this mysterious woman, he felt glad for the first time in years to have become apt at using Lifesaver.

When the smoke cleared, Cinder was standing in front of the gate back to the school, far out of Sapphire's reach. She had a confident smile on her face, and a bow loaded with a flame-tipped arrow in her hands.

Sapphire knew he had lost. He could not cover that distance without removing the safety on Lifesaver, but even then he was not sure if he would make it with that arrow she had.

Lifesaver's default mode, the Neutral Mode, concentrated on healing. Genocide Mode, or the third and final stage, was a ravenous beast let off the leash. The form that lay in between them, the Combat Mode, was the only option that could possibly capture her right now.

While he was thinking that, Cinder's arrow exploded in front of Sapphire's face, obscuring his view. He merely shielded his face with his arms, aware that the assailant was escaping.

Without realizing it, Sapphire watched the fires burn, as it once again prevented him from reaching his sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this wasn't the meeting you expected, but do forgive me; the time is not ripe quite yet. For now, I wanted them to just meet in this setting before their meeting again later in the story (that's not a spoiler, is it?). Until then, please continue to read!


	9. To Love a Champion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaune and Pyrrha have a talk. Sapphire listens in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter 9! 
> 
> I wanted to address a certain blond guy and his girlfriend here. This was meant to be a one-shot, but I decided to make it a part of the story. Besides, I figured the story's mood could use a little bit of lightening. Sorry if it feels OOC…
> 
> If you find the updating of chapters way too fast, it's because I'm re-uploading this story after having to delete it the last time...

She stood at a place he could not even see, no matter how much he strained his eyes to. She was somewhere he simply could not reach, no matter how far he stretched his hands. She was at a place where his feet could not go, simply because of how extraordinary she was, and how extraordinarily ordinary he was.

But it was precisely because of that reason that Jaune Arc started to run.

-

"So, Blake, you free later?" Sun Wukong, bare-chested monkey stowaway extraordinaire, asked the black-haired girl while dangling from a nearby tree with his tail. "Thought we could maybe, y'know, go and catch a movie or something."

"Sorry, Sun," Blake replied, shutting her book. "We have an extra class today, and I honestly have no idea when it's going to end."

"It's cool," Sun answered, somersaulting onto the bench she sat on. "I'm free for the entire afternoon, so lemme know if you wanna hang out."

"Sure," Blake replied awkwardly. She had been feeling that way around Sun ever since the night at the Ball. There was something about his carefree attitude that made her uneasy, but not in such a bad way.

"Say, Blake," Sun said, furrowing his brow. "Is something the matter? You look kinda off your game today, like something's… troubling you."

"Huh?" Blake jumped, her expression almost pasting the words 'guilty as charged' across her face. She did not think Sun was that observant. "O-oh, no. I'm fine. Thanks for asking, though. It's really sweet of you."

"Hey, Blake," Sun said, his eyes dead serious as he grabbed one of her hands with both of his.

"S-Sun?" Blake exclaimed.

"If there's anything wrong, you know you can just come to me, right?" he asked. "I'll always be there for you."

Blake lost her voice for a bit, opening and closing her mouth without a word. Sun held his position and maintained his gaze, waiting for her response.

"Thank you, Sun," she said at last, giving him a gentle smile and a light peck on the cheek. "That makes me feel a lot better."

Leaving the monkey Faunus speechless and hot in the face, Blake got up and left, her cheeks slightly pink.

"Congratulations."

Screaming like a little girl, Sun leapt out of the bench and stared at the bushes just behind it, where a handsome face with blue hair wearing a very smug grin had emerged from.

"Neptune?!" He remarked. "D-did you eavesdrop on all that?!"

"Eavesdrop? Please," Neptune replied, holding up a metallic device. "I was just filming the video I wanted to submit to the school newsletter."

Pocketing the video camera with a smile that seemed to shine, Neptune took off. Making some very nasty threats as well as desperate pleas, Sun gave chase.

-

"Hey, Blake," Pyrrha called out. "Heading to the supplementary class now?"

"Yeah," Blake replied, walking with her. "You too?"

"Well, I was never one for being late," Pyrrha said. "Guess that makes two of us, huh?"

Before Blake could reply, a blue-haired blur zipped past them at incredible speed. Following closely behind it was a blond streak, yelling something like "COMEONITISN'TFUNNY".

"Was that Neptune and Sun?" Pyrrha asked after a brief moment of stunned silence.

"… Yes. Yes it was," Blake replied with equal parts embarrassment and surprise.

"WOOHOO~!"

As if the ruckus quota had not yet been reached, a weapons locker tore across the skies towards the direction of the Emerald Forest. Goodwitch had told them that the lockers could be set to go to any location, but she never said anything about it being a mode of transport.

"Was that Nora?" Blake asked, concern in her voice as she narrowed her eyes. "And Ren holding on to her waist?"

"… Yes. Yes it was." It was now Pyrrha's turned to be exasperated and embarrassed.

Blake smiled. It felt like forever since all that occupied her mind was the quirky antics of her friends.

"Nora sure has a lot of energy, doesn't she?" Blake asked. "I think the only one who can match her is Yang."

"She's a free bird," Pyrrha replied. "But she can be very… tactful when she wants to be."

As she thought about the times Nora had helped her and supported her over her feelings for Jaune, Pyrrha could not help but smile. Nora – being the straightforward, goofy girl that she was – was also a good friend as well as a reliable teammate. For Pyrrha, who had led the life of an elite, having someone who treated her like a friend, an equal, was priceless.

"I see," Blake said, looking at the smile that blossomed on Pyrrha's face. "How's it going with Jaune? I noticed you two have been frequenting the roof of the dorms at night."

"H-how did you know that?" Pyrrha asked, her face turning pink.

Blake was about to reply, but her answer made her remember that night. The night she saw those tortured, haunted red eyes.

"I-I overheard Jaune talking about it," she said hastily, causing Pyrrha to bury her face in her hands. "Are you two getting along?"

"W-we're getting along," Pyrrha replied, shaking the redness out of her cheeks. "I-it's just that Jaune… he still doesn't see the qualities he has, that's all."

"What's wrong?"

"He… doesn't think he's that capable," Pyrrha replied, a hint of sadness in her voice. "He has so much potential, and he's a competent leader; he can give us the commands that no one else could, and it's because of them that we can emerge victorious.

"I may be strong, but I can't lead," Pyrrha continued, the grief now more obvious. "I can only win my own battles. The last time I led a team, everyone else became eliminated and I alone passed the test by defeating the opposing team by myself. Truly a Pyrrhic victory, befitting my name, right?"

Pyrrha stopped walking, her eyes fixated on the ground where countless ants scurried about. They moved with such fervor, each doing the same ordinary things as the others. No one stood out, and no one was 'special'; they lived in a world where one of their peers could not be so exceptional they become alienated by the rest. Because no matter how much they repeated the same action, they remained ordinary.

She could remember the cheers from the crowd as she returned victorious. She could remember thinking that if they won, it was fine. When she saw the faces of her teammates, when she listened to their outrage, she did not know what to feel.

She believed that she simply had not been strong enough. Her lack of strength had let her teammates down. And so, she trained. She trained until no one could come close to matching her in combat. The top spot on the podium pretty much had her name permanently stamped on it, and no one else ever stood there. She was at a level where the second place was a mere formality to award whoever was the 'next best'. It was technically true, but in reality their abilities could not be further apart.

The Goddess of Victory. The one Fate smiled upon. The undefeated legend. She could remember those titles that were branded on her name like an ugly mark that would never disappear. When she looked back at her former teammates, they already could not even talk to her anymore. She had become something so far above in her superiority that her identity had fallen so low, to that of a force or an image. It was like she never lived.

Then she met him. The man who did not know her, and did not look at her with contempt, envy or reverence. He was a man who was ordinary, but saw her as a girl. He saw her as a fellow human, a person capable of great feats but a person nonetheless. She believed that if it was him, he could still look her in the eyes no matter how high she stood on the podium. She believed that he could even someday stand on the spot that had been reserved for her all this time, and make her see the world from a different angle.

But even he slowly fell to the curse of mediocrity.

"Jaune is leagues ahead of me at being a competent leader," Pyrrha said, almost lamenting that fact. "But he just can't see it. He thinks he's inferior and that… Sometimes he thinks he doesn't 'deserve' to be with me."

Blake said nothing, letting the red-haired warrior sort out her thoughts.

In the shadows of a nearby pillar, Sapphire grabbed on to Jaune's shoulder, shaking his head silently. Relenting, Jaune sank back into hiding, listening in on the conversation that had become more of a soliloquy.

"He's constantly getting stronger for that purpose, but…" Pyrrha bit back a sob. "I sometimes feel that if he keeps going, he's going to leave me so far behind I won't be able to catch up. If I stop him, he'll end up resenting the fact that he's weaker than me, but if he goes too far ahead I'll be left behind. No matter what happens, I'll go back to being alone. I don't want to be alone again, Blake. I don't want to walk by myself anymore."

Her voice weak and spirit wavering, the unmatched Huntress in training clenched her fists as the corners of her eyes gleamed and burned.

"I knew," Jaune admitted, whispering to Sapphire. "I knew that she was feeling that way for a long time. But I- I just didn't know what to do. I wanted to assure her and be there for her, but I didn't have the strength to back up those words."

Sapphire considered walking away. He was not one to get involved in such situations and waste his time talking some kids through the issues of romance. Even though he kept telling himself that, Lifesaver refused to let him walk away and his mouth just would not shut up.

"Then let her know," he said bluntly. "If you really think that way, tell her. You don't need to be strong enough physically to match those words; that thinking's just conceited. You need to see what she wants. She is willing to let you continue becoming stronger despite her inner conflicts because she knows it's what you want. Now it's time for you to do the same for her. Besides, she didn't fall in love with you because you had the potential to become stronger than her, right?

"Mediocrity is a virtue in its own right, Arc," he finished. "Go show her the mediocre idiot she fell in love with."

"Y-yeah," Jaune agreed, nodding. "I'll set things right as I am right now."

Sapphire smiled in spite of himself. He could tell that Jaune had been planning on doing that all along; he just needed that one push to get him going.

"Well, do it after she's calmed down a bit," he advised. "In the meantime, we have class to attend."

-

"This looks familiar," Yang commented, standing on a metallic square embedded into the ground.

Team JNPR and Team RWBY (Plus Sapphire) stood on a hill overlooking the Emerald Forest, where they had taken part in the initiation test together. Back then, they had formed pairs and retrieved relics that decided their teams. Why they were here again now, in the same position, was anyone's guess.

"I trust you all remember this place," Ozpin began, addressing the group.

"Nope," Sapphire said, one hand on his hip.

"This was the place you took your first trial at Beacon," Ozpin went on, ignoring him. "You must be wondering why you're all gathered here again."

He took a sip from his mug. Sapphire shook his head and pretended to throw up.

"This is a test to see how much you've all grown," Ozpin announced. "You will now all undergo the exact same test. There are no additional rules, except for one: due to the odd number of participants, one of you will end up alone. The one who does is free to join any pair and fight as a three-member team. Any questions?"

"Yes," Sapphire replied.

"Good luck to you all," Ozpin said.

"I don't know the actual rules," Sapphire pointed out, as Nora flew off with a wide smile on her face.

"First person you make eye contact with becomes your _partner,_ " Ozpin replied calmly, leaning on the last word as Ren was launched into the air. "Retrieve a relic and head to the designated location. That is all."

"Fair enough," Sapphire shrugged, before being violently and suddenly sent into the air.

-

Flying through the air did not feel as gratifying as he had hoped. Biting back the curses as the wind stung and pierced his skin, Sapphire fired two arrows at a nearby tree. The ropes attached to them went taut as he held on to them, swinging up and landing in another tree.

Instead of jumping down, he stayed on the branch looking at the others fall. Jaune was the closest, his body unnaturally stiff. Sapphire considered helping him out, but as he continued to watch, Jaune unsheathed his sword and brought out his shield.

Using the shield to protect him from the incoming branches, Jaune crashed through them while lifting his sword and using it to stab the trunk of a large tree, using the shield to defend from majority of the impact. Even so, that was a lot of force to absorb. Taking a few seconds to recover, Jaune kicked against the tree and jumped down, pulling his weapon with him.

 _And they call him incompetent,_ Sapphire mused in his head.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha's voice rang through the foliage, making Sapphire hastily hide.

"Oh, Pyrrha," Jaune said, sounding both surprised and delighted. "You sure got here fast. Guess we're a pair again, huh?"

"Y-yeah," Pyrrha replied shyly. "Say, Jaune, that landing…"

"Oh, that?" Jaune fumbled for the right words due to embarrassment. "Yeah… I've been training a bit so I wouldn't end up useless to the team, and I guess the 'landing after being flung by an enemy' part worked out fine at least."

"I-I see," Pyrrha replied, her expression a little downcast. "That's great, Jaune."

An awkward silence descended upon them, with neither of them looking at the other. Sapphire could feel the atmosphere even all the way up in his tree.

 _Now's your chance, Arc,_ he thought.

"Pyrrha," Jaune began. "We need to talk."

Reluctantly, Pyrrha looked up, and into the eyes of the man she loved. She could not contain her surprise when she saw the firm determination in them. That gaze alone held more strength than she could ever muster.

"Pyrrha… I know what you're thinking," he said. "I may be dense, but I'm not THAT dense. I just wanted to say that I wanted to be strong for… for you. I didn't want people to look down on you because I was weak. I wanted you to be proud of me."

Pyrrha listened, her expression not changing. She definitely expected such a response already, but hearing it from Jaune made her stay silent in order to hear more. Because regardless of the words being similar or not, the words that came out of Jaune's mouth were worlds apart from those in her head.

"I will always depend on you, Pyrrha," Jaune went on. "I-I know that makes me sound kinda pathetic, but it's true. I won't ever leave you behind, so don't worry. I'm rushing to catch up with you, and I don't want either of us to leave each other behind; I just want us to move forward together. I'm gonna rely on you, so I want you to be able to rely on me too. I-if that's alright with you, of course."

Pyrrha stared at her boyfriend, with a very peculiar expression on her face. For a moment, Sapphire thought she was smiling, but the next moment he thought she looked confused.

"Okay, that sounded a lot cooler in my head," Jaune admitted, hanging his head in shame. "Can I, like, have a do-over or-"

He did not get to finish that sentence, with Pyrrha's lips pressed against his and her arms around his neck. Before he fully registered the kiss, Pyrrha had already pulled away, face slowly becoming red like her hair.

"I don't mind waiting," she said, fidgeting a little. "But you better hurry up, because I'm not going to stop."

"H-hey! That's not fair!" Jaune complained.

"I was under the impression that it was your idea," Pyrrha teased.

"N-no, I meant the- the kiss," Jaune clarified. Sapphire groaned and did a facepalm while seated on his branch. "That was totally unfair; I was supposed to start it! Y-your sneak attack was cheating!"

"What the heck are you saying, you dumbass?!" Sapphire cursed under his breath. The atmosphere had been pretty good, but now it was lying around in pieces all over the place.

"Well then…" Pyrrha said, as though thinking of something. "Maybe you should be a true gentleman and lead me this time."

"Um… Um…" Jaune stuttered, completely at a loss.

"Just shut up and kiss me," Pyrrha whispered, a faint but powerful smile on her face.

Looking straight into the eyes of the amazing girl who had become a part of his life, Jaune placed his hands gently on Pyrrha's waist, pulling her closer. Closing their eyes at the same time, they let their lips meet to continue the connection their gaze had now lost.

Shaking his head with a wry smile, Sapphire left them to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you read the oneshot I wrote here, you'll realize this is pretty much the same thing. This chapter was originally a oneshot, but I altered it to make it fit here. Hope you enjoyed.


	10. Partners and Promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sapphire recalls an old promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double digit chapter! Thank you for following the story up till this point!

"It feels like Christmas, doesn't it?"

Too preoccupied to reply, Sapphire busied himself with checking the shelves filled with different weapons.

"I already have Daybreak and Duskfall," he said, picking up what appeared to be a rapier with a revolver-like attachment on it.

"Then stop browsing," his partner replied. "Lemme have the goodies."

"Hey, I'm not getting the MACB until next week," Sapphire defended. "Right now, I'm violating protocol with only a pair of custom weapons."

"Says the idiot who customized them just to fit the requirement of having both melee and ranged weapons in the first place," his partner jabbed, picking up a machine gun fitted with a barrel for grenades and several bayonets that seemed to be added on for purpose of being fired. "What the heck is this, by the way? Someone please explain what I'm looking at."

"Well, this IS the Schnee Corporation we're talking about," Sapphire said, pocketing something. "Most of their stuff is… um… unique. That said, I didn't know they were working on this many weapons. Even if they were collaborating with the military, this is clearly too ridiculous."

"For all this stuff, the security sure was lax," Sapphire's partner – a man called Luke Johnson – wondered aloud. "Digging that huge transport tunnel underneath it was easier than I thought it'd be."

"It's good camouflage," Sapphire said, dropping a bunch of weapons into the large hole they had cut up in the floor. "It'd be more suspicious if some random factory on the outskirts of town had high tech drones and trained personnel patrolling about."

"What're you fiddling around with over there?" Luke asked, seeing Sapphire swinging around the rapier he had picked up earlier. Its blade, for some reason, was now glowing with a light blue color.

"I don't know, but I can't seem to turn it off," Sapphire grumbled. "I'm afraid to toss it down because I'm afraid it'll blow up or something."

"That's why you shouldn't give in to your inner weapons nut and try it out," Luke sighed, picking up a pair of metallic long boots that had no opening for its wearer to put their feet into. "Is this an android's feet or something? What're they just randomly dumping here?"

"Hey, look," Sapphire said, fooling around as he swung the rapier around, its light blue glow following the path the blade made. "I'm a graceful swan. Or something."

"Yeah, that's _really graceful,_ " Luke commented sarcastically. "Throw in your singing and you've got your own performance. I'm sure Schnee would pay."

"Yeah, she'd pay to see my head on a pole," Sapphire replied. "And my singing's a secret, you-"

The next moment, the armory door opened, revealing several androids.

"Oh, fu-" Luke began.

"Grab whatever weapons are left," Sapphire shouted, running towards the squad of androids, standing in between them and Luke. "Fling what you can down, and take a few. We're gonna buy the transporters time- Whoa whoa whoa!"

As the tip of the rapier touched the ground, a colossal wave of ice burst from it and charged at the androids, freezing the front few while knocking the others back.

"What the heck did I just do?!" Sapphire screamed.

"What the heck did you just do?!" Luke asked, completely at a loss as well.

"I don't know!" Sapphire answered hastily. "But it felt really girly!"

As he said that, the rapier in his hands broke apart, falling onto the ground in dull silver pieces.

"Must be a prototype," Sapphire muttered. "Whatever; I don't want to handle that thing anyway."

"Guess that's all you can expect from a Schnee product," Luke said lightly, carrying a large bunch of weapons on his body. "Don't expect too much of it."

"And why are you carrying so many of their junk?" Sapphire asked, activating Daybreak and Duskfall.

"Hey, beggars can't be choosers," Luke replied, shrugging as he tossed what looked like a bazooka to Sapphire. "At least I didn't pick some weird stick that shoots ice."

"Did you not see how graceful I was with that thing?" Sapphire asked, aiming the bazooka at the chunk of ice that blocked the wall, where some of the androids were attempting to break through. "My swan-ness is legit."

"You need to get off the internet," a female voice rang out. "And also stop stealing other people's belongings."

"Ah, Schnee," Sapphire said. "Still can't quit the habit of spying on guys, huh?"

"I prefer 'Winter', but in your case I'll make an exception to how I like to be called," the girl's voice replied. "And I would rather go blind before I have to look at your revolting face."

"You just say that because you hate my surname," Sapphire retorted with a smile. "Y'know, we could get that woman – Rose, I think she was called – and we'd be almost a full set of seasons. Summer, Winter, Fall, see?"

"You really are chatty," Winter replied. "Well, it's okay; you won't be talking for much longer anyway."

"Gee, thanks," Sapphire replied, pulling the trigger on the bazooka, releasing several different colored beams. "Whoa! Taste the rain-"

"Shut up and fight," Luke snapped, charging towards the exit as it burst into flame and debris.

-

Hiding in a corner while the androids closed in, Sapphire checked his surroundings as Luke, now out of new toys, loaded a fresh magazine into his pistol.

"Where did they come from?" he complained. "We didn't hear about this when we scouted the place!"

"Hey, Saph," Luke spoke up. "We got two paths ahead. You opting for left or right?"

"Right," Sapphire replied without thinking, fumbling around with the contents of his ammunition pouches. "I've got three incendiary arrows, two grenades, seven Taser rounds and two grappling-"

"It's fine," Luke said. "We're gonna run for it. Go."

Nodding, Sapphire broke into a sprint, heading for the exit that was definitely still a long way off. The moment he took a few steps, he knew something was wrong.

A huge wall of Dust had been erected from where he had run from, covering the corridor from floor to ceiling. It separated his pursuers from him, but also trapped Luke on the other side with the horde of Schnee androids.

"Run, Saph," Luke's voice came from his earbud. "I'll distract them to give you enough time."

"But-"

"Go!" Luke roared. "You're not as experienced as I am; you can't do much in this situation! Go! That's an order!"

Hesitating for a split second, Sapphire turned his back on his partner and ran.

-

"I'm out, Luke," Sapphire spoke into the microphone, looking at the factory from the refuge of the forest. "Where are you?"

"Some… chamber," Luke's heavy panting amidst the static made his words a little unclear. "They're on the other side of the door, but I reinforced it with some Dust. It'll take them a few minutes."

"Can you find a way out?" Sapphire asked, his voice unnaturally high due to panic.

"Doesn't look like it," Luke replied. "This place seems to be a weapons test-fire chamber; there're lots of charred spots on the walls. That'll explain the presence of the soldiers and lab coats here. Hngh! No, it's no good. This thing's solid."

"Hold on," Sapphire said, almost begging. "I'll call for reinforcements-"

"Too risky," Luke cut across him. "Get away from this place now. Schnee's definitely going to bring in backup to this place soon. Remember how she stalled by talking to you through the PA system? Apparently it was so that she could send the signal to activate all the drones in this place; I found hidden hatches here and there. Since they were inactive, our scans didn't pick up anything. I hate to admit it, but Schnee pulled a fast one on us this time. If the backup from outside arrives, our entire team will get wiped out. But I'm not a fan of being captured and tortured, so I'm blowing this place up."

"No!" Sapphire pleaded. They had set enough charges to blow the entire factory to pieces. Not a single inch of the place would survive, not even a test-fire chamber.

"Hey, listen," Luke said. "I'm gonna make it quick, okay? I'm not like Ozzy after all. You're a chatty guy, and I think that's fine. You've got a long way to go as a merc, but you'll manage; your skills and potential are true. You've got a good heart – something which most of us discarded when we settled into the trade. I'm glad I got partnered with you. Did I miss out anything?"

"Luke, come on," Sapphire whispered, his voice trembling. "Don't do this to me. We'll find a way out."

"It's okay, Saph," Luke replied. "We all prepare ourselves for this moment, right? But before I go, promise me one thing, Saph:

"Get along with your next partner, ya hear?"

There was nothing but static following those words, but as Sapphire stared at the raging fireball that swallowed the factory, the world had already become silent.

-

He made him a promise. He never did agree, but towards the final words of the man that had been his partner, Sapphire Fall swore.

He swore that he would become strong enough to support his next partner. And that no matter what, he would never let another partner, friend, or teammate die again.

-

"… and that concludes the report on the mission."

"I see," the man grumbled, staring at the screen where the details of the mission still lingered. "We've lost a man, right? Is his partner still active?"

"Yes," the woman giving the presentation replied.

"Good," he said, even though his tone did nothing to support that word. "Send him to Dynes' team and pair him up with Black; Dynes isn't going to be much of a use in the state he's in anyway. Have Morris and Anderson train him."

"Understood."

From that day onwards, Sapphire Fall and Mercury Black became partners.

-

Walking through the Emerald Forest warily, Sapphire sighed.

He had gotten involved in Arc's love-life, what with offering advice and all that. He was a mercenary – a fact that he often reminded himself several times – and mercenaries had no use for emotions. He should not have wasted his time getting involved, but he ended up helping anyway.

They were not even remotely related to him, and he was under no obligations to help them. What was he thinking, helping them with their relationships? If they had broken up, then they would have been better off in the long run after one of them dies in combat.

_I'm off my game,_ he thought. _I should go to a hospital._

Grumbling as he continued walking without a clear destination in mind, Sapphire saw a familiar figure accompanied by a thicket of bright yellow hair.

"Blondie?" he wondered aloud.

Yang turned, saw him, and turned away again. She still had her shades on.

"Oh my!" she said in an extremely forced voice of surprise. "I hear someone, but I cannot see him! My oh my, it must be because of these shades! With them on, I can't make eye contact with anyone! Oh dear, I can't form a pair like this!"

With that, she ran off. Staring at the direction she disappeared into, Sapphire stood there speechless for a few moments.

"Well, whatever," he muttered, getting down on one knee and pressing something through his pants. Lifesaver gave off a faint 'beep' sound in response. "This works in my favor anyway."

"Fall?"

Turning around and making eye contact with Blake Belladonna, Sapphire sighed. So that was what she wanted.

"I thought I sensed Yang," she said. "I didn't expect to find you here."

"Blondie's somewhere over there," Sapphire replied, pointing at the direction Yang ran off in. "Dunno what's up with her, though. If you hurry you might be able to catch up with her."

"Wait!" Blake called out, as Sapphire began to walk off. "We made eye-contact, so we have to move as a pair now."

"You can just cheat-" Sapphire began, but a faint glint caught his eye. Cameras. Of course. "Fine. Stay close but don't get in my way."

Nodding, albeit reluctantly, Blake followed him.

Ozpin watched the screen in Glynda's hands as it displayed the various students currently in action (she had swiftly turned off the camera where Pyrrha and Jaune were at, though). Needless to say, Glynda was not pleased, and he could feel her fuming even over the steam from his mug.

"This is your idea of helping him live longer?" Glynda finally asked. "You're putting him in another battle situation and it's supposed to magically cure him?"

"It's a necessary first step," Ozpin replied calmly. "And I believe that he is ready to take that first step."

"And if you're wrong?" Glynda challenged.

_She's not the Monochrome I have to kill. Not yet._

Not yet, Ozpin thought to himself.

"There are things that must be done when the preparations aren't complete, Glynda," he answered.

-

Hiding in a bush, Sapphire observed another pair – Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee – battle a horde of Beowolves with ease. He had wanted to jump out and eliminate all the Grimms at once, but Blake had stopped him, saying that they could handle it. Sapphire had been reluctant, but Blake remained adamant, resulting in their current state of hiding.

As he watched, Sapphire had to admit that they were good. He had thought Schnee was just a pampered rich girl, but in the way she fought, he understood that she was more than that; those moves were not something anyone could pull off by simply swinging their weapon around. Her choice of equipment could have been better though; that skirt lifted up way too often during combat, and that weapon was a wild horse (granted, she did manage to use it with ease).

But what caught his attention was the way Ruby Rose fought. He had seen moves very similar to the ones she displayed, some time ago. Back then, it was by a man named Qrow, who had shared with Sapphire the reason he fought. Sapphire made a mental note to ask the same question to Rose should the opportunity arise.

"See?" Blake whispered as Ruby cleanly sliced off the head of the last Beowolf. "They can handle themselves just fine."

"I totally could have handled that last one on my own," Weiss scoffed, folding her arms.

"I know you did," Ruby replied, giggling. "Come on, let's go."

Sapphire clenched his teeth. Those words were eerily familiar to him.

"I had him right where I wanted him," he had once said to Mercury.

"Sure you did," he had replied, with that smug grin on his face. How did his partner hide that hostility behind such a genuinely friendly smile the entire time?

"Fall?" Blake's voice cut into his thoughts.

"It's nothing," Sapphire replied hastily, noticing that Weiss and Ruby had already left. "We have to go, too."

Blake agreed wordlessly, but as she stepped out of the bushes, her bow twitched.

"Wait," she said. "Something's coming."

Sapphire's eyes widened for a split second, before he bent down and pressed something on Lifesaver through his pants again. It was a stupid mistake, and he cursed himself for not realizing it sooner.

As though waiting for them to emerge, a large shadow pounced out of the foliage. An Ursa. A single arrow through the face was enough to bring it down, but Sapphire's concern lay elsewhere. Activating his Semblance, he felt his bodily abilities rise and his senses sharpen, while his eyes surely turned a light shade of red.

"Stay close to me," he said, as Daybreak automatically loaded another arrow; as long as he did not wish to change the type of arrow and he had spares loaded in, Daybreak and Duskfall could handle reloading by themselves.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked, picking up his uneasiness. She had Gambol Shroud out and ready, but the shriek overhead told her that it would hardly be of any use in this situation. Worst of all, she recognized that shriek.

A Nevermore. That vile creature had been the major obstacle during Team RWBY's initiation here at the Emerald Forest. To make matters worse, this time Blake was only with Sapphire instead of her own team.

As though trying to prove to her that matters could be even worse, the trees to her side gave way, revealing another familiar figure: a black exoskeleton with white bone plates, finished off with a glowing, deadly stinger: a Death Stalker had joined the fray.

Along with the two large Grimms, several Ursi gathered, surrounding Blake and Sapphire. Their numbers were not frighteningly huge, but they were sufficient to pose a credible threat.

"Fall," Blake said, her back pressed against his, "Do you have anything that'll take them all out or at least distract them long enough?"

"I have smoke bombs," Sapphire replied. "But we're surrounded. Even if we fight through some of them, the Nevermore's got aerial advantage. And- oh crap, there's that."

Slithering across the lush forest grass and baring their fangs at their prey, King Taijitu entered the scene. The serpentine Grimms hissed, its black and white halves separating to go for both of the foolish creatures who had gotten themselves surrounded.

"This was a miscalculation," Sapphire muttered savagely under his breath. "Smoke isn't going to fool snakes; they'll find us instantly. Listen, Belladonna. I'm gonna create an opening, and you run the moment-"

"I'm fighting," Blake retorted. "I can handle myself. Don't waste your time," she added, as he opened his mouth. "I know what I'm doing; I've battled Grimm and worse before."

Before Sapphire could say anything else, the countless monsters attacked.

-

"How is this possible?" Glynda asked, staring at the screen in wide-eyed disbelief.

For some reason, even when they had spotted other pairs, the Grimm chose to ignore them and instead gathered at where Blake and Sapphire were. It was as though they were specifically looking for them and them alone. As a result, every other pair reached the relics and the rendezvous point without any trouble (save Ruby and Weiss who decided to slaughter some Beowolves along the way). But that also meant that no one would be able to go to their aid.

"We have to intervene," she said worriedly. "They're not ready to face that many Grimms at once, especially with those three added in."

"He can," Ozpin replied, his expression unreadable. "That's why it's bad. Come on, Glynda. We have to stop him before he takes them on by himself."

"What-"

" _Now,_ " Ozpin said, his voice dead serious.

-

Launching several Dust Grenades into the monsters, Sapphire fired two arrows before they detonated, blowing back a few Ursi. Gunshots followed shortly, although they barely did any damage to the King Taijitu.

Blake was having problems on her side as well. Her attacks barely had an effect on the Death Stalker, and constantly dodging the monstrosity's stinger and pincers proved to be difficult when she had to deal with the pack of Ursi at the same time.

Occasionally, the Nevermore dived, each time narrowly missing Blake. Sometimes, when it caught her off-guard by firing off its feathers, Sapphire had to dive in and save her. Keeping his attention on Blake while fighting off enemies proved to be a difficult task, even with his Semblance active.

The fatigue was slowly starting to take its toll. Like Ozpin pointed out, the more he fought, the more Sapphire hurt himself. While it made him stronger, it was only worsening his condition. Right now, even though he could crush an Ursa's head with his hands if he wanted to, Sapphire was by no means confident in his chances of victory.

If a way out existed, it would be Lifesaver's Combat Mode.

Genocide Mode was definitely overkill. He did not want to or need to waste his life on something like mere Grimm. Combat Mode would probably allow him to take on most if not all of the monsters in front of him right now, and it only took two simple words to activate it. But with Blake around, Sapphire was not sure if he could avoid hurting her in the process if he really did use it.

Blake leapt into the air, jumping onto the shoulder of the clone she created with her Semblance. Dual-wielding her Gambol Shroud's blade and sheath, she attempted to slash through her enemies on whom her bullets had no effect. In two clean hits, she beheaded an Ursa, using whatever was left of its body and another clone to dash through the air like a cannonball.

As she flew towards the Death Stalker, her sights set on its stinger, Blake was suddenly swept off into the air by a violent force. Struggling to maintain her balance as the Nevermore flew away, while still being thrown towards the side by the gale of wind, Blake barely managed to avoid slamming into a tree.

In one backflip, Blake climbed onto a branch and leapt off, raising her weapons to behead another incoming Ursa. But this time, she froze.

_I live for the sole purpose of killing you._

She remembered those eyes. Those terrifying yet sorrowful red eyes, forcing back the darkness with its malice alone. She remembered his silhouette – a single shadow shrouded in darkness save his monster-like eyes – as his hair trembled in the wind like the mane of a monster.

As she looked at the Grimm she was about to kill, Blake froze. The sight of the monster reminded her of him. Of Sapphire, the man who lived to kill her. Of Sapphire, the man who lived to fight, and lived for revenge.

Of Sapphire Fall, the man whose friends' deaths were her fault.

Weiss had assured her that she was in the right. She had the full support of her team. She had already washed her hands of the life she led as a member of the White Fang. So why was she so affected by those words?

Why is it that when she looked into the face of a monster, she saw that human's expression staring back at her?

That moment's hesitation cost her dearly. The last thing Blake saw before she realized that folly was the blur of an Ursa's swinging arm.

"Belladonna!" Sapphire roared, dashing to her side and between her and the monsters. There were still too many left. "Belladonna! Get up!"

It was a heavy blow, but she was not out cold. However, even after she sat up, Blake did not pick up her weapons.

"What're you doing?!" Sapphire bellowed, firing an arrow at an approaching Beowolf. "Move it and pick up your weapons! We don't have time!"

But Blake could not hear him. Her eyes, wide with shock and fear, stared into the ground where nothing but grass was. Despite that, they bore into something distant that only she could see.

"Bella-" Sapphire began, but he stopped when he looked at her and realized that his words fell on deaf ears. She was trembling. She had already hit her limit with how far she could hide her feelings, and now she possessed no combat capabilities whatsoever. On the battlefield, she had no more value than being bait for Sapphire to escape.

The enemies closed in. The Nevermore dived from the skies, while the small army of Grimms charged across the earth. They were monsters without souls, and they knew not of mercy. In between them and a girl who could not fight, was a single man who stood no chance.

_"Get along with your next partner, ya hear?"_

A vague, brief memory grazed his mind. A determined, earnest promise echoed in his soul. That promise had been made by him, and he had sworn to keep it. But it was not the promise that drove him to act. It was something that resided far deeper within his being, and it was what had compelled him to make the promise in the first place.

As Ozpin had called it, it was his 'heart'.

Facing the incoming wave of death and destruction, Sapphire spoke:

"Safety Off."


	11. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sapphire goes into Combat Mode.

Combat mode. The mode in which part of the user's Aura that was sealed away is released, allowing him to augment his Semblance and improve his abilities. In that form, a part of Lifesaver's functions are instead shifted towards combat-related functions, causing the stored Dust to be used at a much quicker pace. That also meant that Lifesaver's healing abilities were compromised, and with his Semblance stronger than before, Sapphire was also worsening his condition even faster, even further.

It was a mode in which he gambled his life. It was the only mode that the commander had allowed, but only when he had to fight to protect someone. Someone like a partner, a teammate, or a friend.

But now, to defend the enemy he swore he would kill, Sapphire Fall activated Combat Mode.

-

He felt the world slow down. Every sound became low and booming, echoing for an unnaturally long period of time. Every movement, no matter how minute, now felt like the air around it had been replaced with water.

The monsters approached. Seemingly oblivious to how dull their movements had become, the creatures without souls continued their charge, hostility emanating from every pore of their hideous bodies.

Feeling Daybreak and Duskfall slowly folding up to assume their bladed forms, each individual gear and part taking what felt like ages to settle into place, Sapphire rushed towards the incoming horde.

Several small missiles fired from Lifesaver's sides, spreading out before converging at the white snake, which was the closest. The explosions that followed did no more than stun the wretched creature, but it allowed Sapphire to get within striking range. With a backflip kick, he sent the Serpent into the air and let it spiral miserably to the ground.

Not pausing in his assault, Sapphire charged at the nearest Ursa and grabbed its flailing arm in mid-swing. Swinging the Grimm around with ease, he beat back a few more of its kind before hurling it at the Death Stalker.

The giant scorpion Grimm pierced through the thrown Ursa with its stinger, flinging away the carcass before it thrust its giant pincer towards Sapphire's neck. Grabbing it with two hands, Sapphire forcibly pulled the pincer apart, splitting it down the middle. Before the monster could elicit a cry of pain, several Dust Grenades exploded beneath its body, where there was nothing to cover it.

A beowolf closed in from behind, but Sapphire did not care; Lifesaver in Combat Mode was more than a simple pair of boots. The guns affixed to the holsters on its sides rotated, pointing its barrels at the enemy. In the next instant, they fired. Sapphire had not moved an inch; by reading the electric signals his brain sent out, the intelligent fully-weaponized mobile armor prototype Lifesaver could more than handle normal Grimm on its own.

As the Beowolf collapsed in a hail of bullets, Sapphire jumped, projected by the boosters on the soles of his boots. Grabbing onto the back of the Nevermore's head as it missed him with its dive, he used his free hand to stab at the massive bird in rapid succession. When the bird lost its balance and crashed into a bunch of trees, he leapt off, grabbed its tail feathers, and flung it into the air.

Sprinting back to where Blake was at, Sapphire picked up her discarded blade and threw it at the Death Stalker, which was still twitching. Even though two Ursi were in the way, the weapon still flew right through their stomachs and buried itself into the scorpion Grimm's head.

Without warning, Sapphire did a roundhouse kick at nothing in particular, until the black half of the King Taijitu shot out of the shadows and into his attack. It flew in an odd angle, crashing into the base of a small hill where several rocks tumbled down on impact, burying it.

Checking the condition of his weapons, Sapphire readied himself for whatever was approaching from the rustling thicket before him. Lifesaver was running out of Dust, but his Semblance would make up for that. Even if another Death Stalker or-

Rushing into the clearing created by the battle was Ozpin, followed shortly by Glynda Goodwitch. Behind them were the other students, each one looking as confused as the other. Sapphire opened his mouth to say something, but he paused upon seeing the look on his former commander's face.

"Neutral," he ordered, and Lifesaver gave off a series of hums and clicks. Almost instantly, the odd sensation that was his Semblance faded, although it did not vanish entirely. "She's over there. Check-"

A wave of pain flooded his legs, and in less than a second the ground rushed up to meet his rapidly fading vision.

-

The smell of lavender hung in the space, loftily filling his nostrils. As he slowly opened his eyes, Sapphire was greeted by a white ceiling with that appeared to be curtains at the side. As he registered the softness of the mattress below him, the moments before he passed out replayed in his mind in bits and pieces.

"I really _did_ end up in a hospital," he wondered aloud.

"Not quite," a firm male voice said from somewhere to his right. "But close enough. This is Beacon's infirmary."

"It's not that heartening to wake up with a grown man by my bedside," Sapphire complained, his voice still a little groggy as he tried moving his arms around. "Where're my weapons?"

"You wish to be armed in an infirmary?" Ozpin enquired.

"You can never be too careful," Sapphire shrugged.

"Yes, that is correct," Ozpin agreed. "That is why reckless behavior should be avoided. Acts like using this would certainly fall into such a category."

Ozpin produced a small, circular object the size of a collar pin from his chest pocket, holding it up so that Sapphire could see, causing the younger man to groan.

"I found this curious device on Lifesaver," Ozpin explained. "It seems to be able to give off a special frequency that draws in Grimms."

"You touched my legs while I was asleep?" Sapphire asked, not making eye contact. "You have some fine tastes."

"As a result of your recklessness, you and Miss Belladonna were put in a lot of danger," Ozpin stated plainly. "No doubt you intended to take on all the monsters at once so that no one else would have to fight, but as you can clearly see now, that did not work out; Miss Belladonna was in quite a bit of shock."

"Was she hurt?" Sapphire asked, bolting upright as he suddenly remembered, before hissing in pain and collapsing back onto the bed.

"Not physically, no," Ozpin replied. "But I cannot say the same for her mental state. I expect it had something to do with what you said to her that night."

"I said the truth," Sapphire mumbled defiantly. "She'll be disappointed to hear I'm still alive."

"Is that what you really think?"

Sapphire looked away. He wanted to lie, but he was sure Ozpin would not be fooled that easily.

"Why did you go so far as to use Combat Mode?" Ozpin asked. "If you wanted to kill her, you could have just left her to the Grimm. You clearly knew the consequences of using it, so why?"

"You and your nefarious brainwashing," Sapphire answered. "Saying stuff like 'partners' and all that-"

"So you saved her because she was your partner?" Ozpin asked. "Even though you swore to kill her?"

"I swore to kill Monochrome," Sapphire snarled. "The woman I paired up with was too weak to be the Monochrome I knew."

"Her eyes," Ozpin offered, referring to what Sapphire had said to him that night. Wordlessly, Sapphire nodded. "They didn't look like a killer's eyes, yes? I would like to offer you an idea to ponder about while you rest: consider the possibility that Miss Belladonna never goes back to being Monochrome. What would you do then?"

"That's not-" Sapphire began.

"If it does happen, what would you do?" Ozpin repeated.

"I…" Sapphire stared at the ceiling, unable to speak. "She's still Monochrome. Nothing can change that."

"And yet you protected her because she was not the Monochrome you knew," Ozpin reminded. "As I have mentioned before, people change. You are no longer the weak child who could not hold back your Semblance. You are no longer the greenhorn of a mercenary who is wet behind the ears, unable to protect his team. In the same sense, is it so difficult to imagine that she can change for the better as well?"

Sapphire continued to remain silent, but the lack of talking only made it more difficult to not think about those words. To make matters worse, there was a part of him that wanted those words to be true. Was it because he did not want to kill her? But if so, why?

"Your selfishness made your teammates' worries increase instead of letting them share the burden with you," Ozpin said in a slightly louder voice, making Sapphire flinch. "And most importantly, you put two of my precious students in danger. That is something I absolutely cannot forgive. How you manage to make up for that mistake is up to you."

With those words, the headmaster of Beacon stood up and headed for the door.

"Oh yes, I forgot to mention," he said, stopping halfway. "I'm glad you chose to protect Miss Belladonna, even if it meant you had to use Combat Mode."

-

"Blake?"

Not turning to look at the owner of that voice, Blake let the wind flutter against her hair as she sat on the roof, looking at the sunset.

"What is it, Ruby?" she asked, still not looking at her.

"I-I thought you might be hungry," Ruby said meekly. "So I brought you a sandwich."

"Thanks," Blake replied flatly. "But I just don't have the appetite right now. Sorry."

"O-oh," Ruby said, slightly crestfallen. "That's okay! How about we talk, then?"

"Ruby, I-" Blake began, turning to look at her leader for the first time. She almost gasped. "Why are you crying?"

"I-I'm not!" Ruby replied hastily, rubbing her eyes. There were no tears to wipe away, but the marks left by previously shed trails down her cheeks could not be erased so simply. "I-I was cleaning the dorm and… um… dirt…"

"Ruby," Blake said, a hint of exasperation in her voice as her expression softened. "You know you're a bad liar."

Her shoulders drooping, the fearless, bold leader of Team RWBY sighed with a melancholic look of disappointment on her face.

"Come sit next to me," Blake offered, turning back to look at the sunset. She felt the young girl sit down on the edge of the rooftop to her right. For some reason, she had a soft spot for Ruby. "What's on your mind?"

"I wanted to ask you that," Ruby whined. "Your face when we found you in the forest was scary, Blake. We were all worried about you but no matter what we said, you just wouldn't respond."

"Oh," Blake said, somewhat lamely. "Sorry about that. I had… a lot of things on my mind."

"Can you tell me about it?" Ruby asked. "Maybe we could… talk this through?"

When Blake realized it, her mouth was already open. She slammed it shut immediately, biting back on the words that almost escaped her lips.

"I'm sorry," Ruby said suddenly, her mood downcast. "I shouldn't have tried to pry."

"It's alright," Blake replied, more gently than she thought she would be. "It's just… I don't know how to begin."

"Yeah, I think I understand," Ruby said. Blake looked at her in surprise. "When I saw Sapphire lying on the ground and blood was coming out from inside his boots, I was so scared. I never saw anyone die before, and I never want to. When I saw that a friend of mine was hurt and the thought of him dying crossed my mind, I was so frightened…"

Blake said nothing. Ruby had clearly misunderstood the reason for Blake's shock, but instead of correcting her, the Faunus continued to listen.

"My mother, Summer, went on a mission once and never came back," Ruby said. "I tried not to think about it, but when I got older I just kept fearing she might be… you know… gone for good. I didn't want to think about it, but even now I still get nightmares about it sometimes."

Blake understood then. The times Ruby tossed and turned endlessly at night had been because of that. Blake had always attributed it to Ruby's abnormally high levels of energy, but now she just felt stupid for not realizing.

"Ruby, I…" Blake paused. She had to say it. She needed to get it off her mind. "That's not it. When I was fighting, I froze when I remembered what Fall said to me about his teammates. They are all dead because of me. Even if I didn't kill them directly, I didn't stop my- my partner back then from killing them. I kept thinking about how it was all my fault, how I ruined his life, and I froze. I couldn't think straight and-"

Without warning, Ruby leaned in and hugged Blake, holding the Faunus close and squeezing her tightly.

"Ruby?!" Blake exclaimed in surprise.

"Hugs make everything better," Ruby replied childishly. "If you feel that way, then you should talk to Sapphire about it. I'm sure you two can find a way to solve the problem."

"I-I can't," Blake insisted. "He lost everything because of me. If I go to him now-"

"You mustn't think like that," Ruby said in a surprisingly firm voice. "You're always worrying about everything yourself; we know you want to put an end to things and you don't want to drag us into any danger, but we're friends, aren't we? We're Team RWBY. You can rely on us. No one should have to shoulder all the worries by themselves; we need friends to listen to us and talk us through them from time to time. That's what Sapphire's missing right now, right?"

Letting go of her friend, Ruby looked at Blake with earnest eyes. Her silver irises met her amber ones, reflecting her firm belief in what she said.

"I don't want you to worry by yourself, Blake," Ruby pleaded. "We all want to be there for you, and we want to be there with you. We'll always be by your side, so please, please, don't keep it all to yourself."

Blake said nothing for a few moments. She was feeling guilty, but now for another reason altogether. All her life, she had tried to do everything by herself. After leaving Adam behind and attending Beacon, she took it upon herself to change the way the White Fang did things. She thought of it as her own responsibility to defeat Roman Torchwick and worked herself to the bone for that purpose, until Yang taught her to slow down.

She had always felt alone, isolated, but in the end, she had been the cause of it all. She was the one placing walls around her heart, blind to the efforts of those trying to help her. Even though she thought she understood that, she had gone back to worrying by herself again after hearing Sapphire's words.

She worried alone, and that almost made her charge into a battle she could never win. She worried alone, and now it resulted in Sapphire risking his life to save her. In the end, all she ever accomplished by herself was to make her teammates – her friends – more worried about her.

"Er… Blake?" Ruby asked, before widening her eyes in surprise when the Faunus suddenly wrapped her arms around her.

"Hugs make everything better, right?" Blake asked, her voice slightly muffled. "Thanks, Ruby."

She might have been a childish girl two years younger than Blake was, but Ruby Rose was a competent leader. To Blake, who had insufficient experience in the field, she was also a dear friend.

No one should carry the burden alone. Her team had taught her that. Sapphire, who was alone, would never come to know that. This time, it was Blake's turn to stretch out her hand towards the lost child alone in their own suffering. It was her turn to be a teammate, and share the burden of her friends. Even if it meant crossing blades with him to make him see that.

 _Thank you,_ she repeated in her head.


	12. In order to move on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In order to move on, she sets her resolve.

"It's a miracle that you managed to survive."

Hearing the words from a man who hardly ever showed any emotion did nothing for Sapphire. He was not particularly thankful to be alive, especially when every bone in his legs felt like they had been mercilessly and meticulously battered to bits by a sledgehammer.

"Unfortunately, you will no longer be able to fight," Ozpin said gravely. "You will have to retire for good, I'm afraid."

"Mercury betrayed us, didn't he." Sapphire mumbled, phrasing it as a statement instead of a question.

Ozpin fell silent.

"What about the others?" Sapphire asked, dread and despair flooding his eyes. Ever since he regained consciousness, his eyes had turned from their usual amber to blue – the color when his Semblance was active but at low levels. Ozpin wondered if he was constantly so close to death that even with the help of the leg armor he wore, he could no longer suppress it entirely. The thought of that worried him greatly.

"The backup teams arrived after the factory was blown up," Ozpin replied. "The White Fang and Schnee security forces had already withdrawn at that time. The target for retrieval is believed to have been destroyed in the explosion."

"What about the others?" Sapphire repeated.

"One member of the raid team was recovered besides you," Ozpin answered with great reluctance. "According to their reports, Monochrome was carrying him and left him in front of them before escaping the scene. We lost him during the surgery. You are the only one we were able to recover and resuscitate."

The nightmarish images returned. The dreaded memories, burning their everlasting horrors into his brain, flared at those simple words.

Only he had survived. Again.

The sound of distant burning rumbled. The shrieks of pain echoed in his ears, followed by the dull sound of muffled gunshots. A small hand reached out and into his field of vision, digging itself into a faceless soldier's stomach, gouging out a trail of fresh, scarlet liquid. That hand never stopped. He never stopped.

He had been nine back then. The day he murdered no less than thirty soldiers with his bare hands, Sapphire Fall had been a mere child. Now, even as a mercenary, he was the same. He was still so powerless. He still could not protect those around him.

And yet, inexplicably, he was once more the only one left alive.

"How am I still alive?" he asked.

"Your Semblance," Ozpin replied simply. "According to the reports, Adam Taurus's attack should have made your entire body disintegrate in that one hit as it has been seen to do. However, your unique Semblance activated and I expect went out of control in response of your rapidly crumbling body and proximity to death. It continuously and quickly strengthened your body, countering Taurus's technique, and forced the damage to stop at your legs, unable to spread. Thanks to that, you were able to make use of the boosted mental capacity by your Semblance to fix the leg armor swiftly to maximize its regenerative abilities."

Sapphire did not bother to look, but he could somewhat feel the cool metal against his legs. His now disintegrating legs.

"The end result is that your Aura is largely sealed in Lifesaver," Ozpin went on. "I've made a few modifications, so you should be able to release it for battle should you wish to; your Semblance drains your Aura considerably after all. While Lifesaver is in this 'neutral mode' and your Aura is contained, it'll keep the disintegration – or 'wilting' as the higher ups call it – from spreading to your body for a fair amount of time. But it can't keep it at bay forever."

"So it slowed my death from an instantaneous thing to a drawn out suffering," Sapphire muttered. "Hmph. 'Lifesaver' indeed. Your naming sense never fails to amaze me."

"There is still hope," Ozpin urged. "There is a surgery you can undergo. Before the wilting spreads to the rest of your body, you can remove it from your body."

"Amputation," Sapphire guessed.

"That is one of the possible outcomes," Ozpin admitted. "The other possibility is that you can keep your legs, but you will never be able to walk again. Even if you do manage to walk, fighting is out of the question. However, you have to agree to this and suppress your Semblance during the operation, or it may fail."

"You modified this to allow me to fight," Sapphire pointed out. "You extended my lifespan. Regular prosthesis won't be able to let me fight at all, and even if I go for the operation I'll still have to withdraw from the battlefield. You gave me a chance to remain as a fighter because you knew I wouldn't give up so easily. So why are you even telling me that?"

Ozpin had expected those words. He knew that Sapphire would have modified Lifesaver into a war machine anyway. At least this way, it was safer for him.

"I can't afford to stop yet," Sapphire said, his tone firm and filled with regret. "I'll hunt them all down."

Ozpin said nothing. He had no words that could convince him otherwise, and no words of comfort, especially after witnessing the bright blaze in those sapphire blue irises.

-

Sapphire woke up from the less-than-subtle sound of the door opening. The infirmary was empty of patients save for him, so chances were high that the person was looking for him.

"He-llo!" Yang greeted in a sing-song voice, waving her hand like she was greeting someone from far away. The way she dragged out the last syllable made Sapphire want to both groan and laugh at the same time.

"What're you doing here?" he asked.

"Visiting!" Yang declared. "You're the first person I know to ever end up here, so I thought I'd use that as an excuse to look around!"

"Such honesty," Sapphire sighed, but he was smiling slightly.

"So how're you feeling?" Yang asked, pulling up a chair and sitting down by his bed.

"Have you talked to Belladonna?" Sapphire fired back.

The mood instantly went cold. Yang's smile dropped a few degrees as she looked away, focusing on her lap.

"No," she admitted. "Ruby's talking to her. I figured I'd give 'em some time alone, y'know? Weiss had a call from her family to pick up and she seemed busy, so I came here instead."

"I see," Sapphire replied. Yang waited for him to continue, but he did not say a word.

"Ruby was terrified," Yang said at last, breaking the silence. "It was her first time seeing someone hurt so bad, and the fact that it was a teammate made it a lot worse, you know?"

He did. He had far too much experience in that area. Holding his tongue, Sapphire bit back on saying that he was not a part of Team RWBY; it would accomplish nothing besides starting another debate with the stubborn blonde.

"I was scared as well," Yang confessed. "We all thought you really were going to die. It didn't help matters with Blake making that traumatized expression; it was my first time seeing her so weak and vulnerable. And believe me, I've seen her weak and vulnerable before. But not like this. Nothing like this."

"If someday," Sapphire said after a long pause. "Someone close to you was taken away, what would you do if you saw the culprit right before your eyes?"

"If it was before I entered Beacon, I would have lost it no matter who it was," Yang replied after a pause. "But now, if that person is a dear friend of mine, I would want to be there for them. After I entered Beacon, I came to know of people who're burdened with so much more worries than I was. If a friend of mine ever hurt another friend, then I would want to know why; if they had to do such a thing and hurt their friends, hurt me, and hurt themselves, then they must already be shouldering a pain far too much for them to handle alone. I would want to be there to hold their hand and tell them it's going to be alright. It's the same for you, right?"

"I haven't changed my mind about killing her," Sapphire pointed out.

"But you saved her," Yang insisted. "You protected-"

"Why are you all trying to convince me I'm someone I'm not?" Sapphire snapped. "Why can't you see that I'm-"

"Because you're not a monster," Yang said firmly. "Ozpin knew that. When I spoke to you, I came to know that. When I looked into your eyes, I saw it; I saw that gentleness you still have. I could tell you weren't a monster. Why are you trying so hard to bluff yourself into thinking that you are?"

"You don't know that," Sapphire said savagely. Looking into Yang's eyes hurt so badly he wanted to turn away; he was hoping to refute her words, but all he ended up with was a desperate plea in his mind that she was right.

"I do know," Yang said, the look on her face both fierce and sorrowful. "I've seen them before. I've seen the eyes of real monsters that almost killed me and Ruby because of my stupidity. Those were eyes without a soul. Unlike yours."

Sapphire stayed silent as he listened. Her voice was calm, controlled, but it was so powerful to his ears. Her eyes were firm, but her gaze was somehow gentle. Even though she had forcefully denied his words, she never did once raise her voice. It was a mysterious feeling, listening to her speak. Even though he could not understand her enthusiasm to help a stranger like him, there was a part of him that told him he actually knew why.

Yang looked at the face on the bed, dyed by the warm colors of the setting sun outside. She vaguely wondered why she kept trying to help him, and she kept looking she found it: he had reminded Yang of herself. Seeing him now was like seeing her young self – a massive mistake waiting to happen, just before the regret began to sink in. She was watching a repeat of her mistake, now in someone else's shoes.

"You're a part of Team RWBY now," she said. "We want to help you. Blake definitely feels the same way. But we're not helping you get revenge. We're not helping you become a murderer. We're helping you reclaim what you've lost.

"I've seen and done my share of mistakes," her words, basking in the warmth of the setting glow, echoed. "I don't want to see someone else destroy themselves because of an obsession."

Yang knew it then. She understood then that she, Blake and Sapphire had something in common: they were all guilty of letting a single thought occupy their minds, preventing them from seeing anything else; Yang in the search for her mother, Blake in hunting down Torchwick, and Sapphire for revenge.

She had lived through that mistake thanks to her uncle. She had helped Blake with hers. Now, it was not up to her to help Sapphire; that role fell on Blake's shoulders. The only problem that remained was if she could find the strength to do so.

 _Good luck, sis,_ she silently hoped.

-

She knew she could not deny the past. She would not deny it, and she would not forget it.

She had friends who would always be there to support her, to help her through the darkest nightmares. She had a hopeful future to look forward to, instead of always looking back at the shadows that lurked in the past.

But in order to confront that past, to truly move on, she had to come to terms with it. She would not deny it, and she would find the strength to live with it. The ones who made her realize it were her friends, and they were also her source of strength.

With a firm hand, she reached for the bow on her head.

-

The smell of fresh air could have been better, but Sapphire was not bothered by it. He had hated the three days he had wasted, confined in the infirmary and unable to do anything but sleep. It did, however, give him time to think.

Adjusting the tie on his uniform, Sapphire considered jogging to the dorm for some exercise, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a familiar face approach him.

She was wearing her usual combat wear instead of the school uniform. She had her weapon sheathed on her back. But the one thing that made everyone she passed by stop and stare was the pair of ears on her head.

Blake Belladonna stood firmly before Sapphire, her usual bow nowhere to be seen.

"I've decided," she said, looking at him in the eye and not breaking away. "I won't run away anymore. I'll accept the past, and who I am.

"And now, I will fight you as the Monochrome you wanted to kill."


	13. Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake and Sapphire fight to kill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 13, and the final part of Blake's arc. It's come to this point, shorter than expected, but I didn't want it to drag so I suppose it's fine. Do let me know what you think of the story up till this point, and thank you for following up till now!
> 
> Enjoy:

She did not know when she started. She had no clue when the world had decided to turn against them. She could not remember when she had first supported their protests. She could not recall when she had joined their ranks.

But she still saw clearly every moment spent brandishing her weapon.

To get their own place in the world, they fought. To become a part of the world they lived in, they battled against it. She shut her eyes, covered her ears, but reality's horrid symphony continued to play in her head.

They were treated like monsters, so they wore the face of monsters. And from behind that cold, ruthless mask, she saw the world change.

They were acknowledged. They were feared. They had become an existence whose presence the world finally recognized. Even though it could be said that they had achieved their objective – and she her dream – she could not smile.

No one knew of her sentiments. No one paid heed to her conflicted heart. No one saw the tears of a girl behind the face of a monster.

To them, she was nothing more than a beast.

-

"Adam!"

He stopped. He was never one to indulge in palavers, and she could tell that her worries were starting to grate on his nerves. But she had to say it.

"I… don't want to participate in tomorrow's mission," she confided. It was a simple task: go to a factory and wait for a mercenary group to show up. When they acquire their target – a cargo belonging to the Schnee Corporation – ambush them and take it back. While the mercenaries fight the Schnee security that catch up, they would make their escape. It was hardly a challenge.

"We've been through this," Adam replied, his tone harsh. "We don't have a choice."

"Haven't we done enough?" she asked. "Why do we have to keep doing these things? No one's going to accept terrorists-"

"Do you think they will ever accept us otherwise?" Adam fired back, removing the mask covering his eyes. Blake immediately looked away; she had seen Adam's face before, but even so, she could not bring herself to meet his eyes. She was far too afraid to. "Does this face tell you that there's even a remote possibility that humans will accept us – the 'worthless animals'?

"There is no other choice here," he repeated savagely. "If we want to be seen, we must be feared. If we are to escape the wretched fate of being bound by chains and living in fear and subjugation, we have to be the ones who hold the chains. We have to be the ones who are feared."

Wearing the mask once more, the enigmatic swordsman turned away from his partner.

"We don't have a choice," he repeated.

-

She carried him to the rendezvous point. Adam might be there, but he was more likely to have already left; his objective had been to destroy the temple then immediately head to retrieve the target. If there was anything left, she could treat the mercenary whose name she did not even know, but carried on her shoulders. It would at least give him a chance to live.

"Why…" the mercenary groaned. His voice was hoarse and blood dribbled from his lips as he spoke.

"We're not all monsters," Blake replied resolutely. "We just wanted to lead normal lives."

"I see…" the man croaked. "Fall and… Black are probably… there… They'll kill you… on sight…"

"Why are you telling me this?" Blake asked, despite helping an enemy as she spoke.

"We're not… all monsters, right?" the mercenary panted, managing a weak smile.

They reached the temple. Or rather, they reached what was left of it. The sounds of explosions in the background told Blake that it was time to withdraw. Despite knowing that, she still held on to the nameless mercenary.

The backup team arrived shortly after. Leaving him on the ground in front of them, Blake dived into the cover of the trees before they could open fire.

As she ran, she vaguely heard them shouting that they had extracted someone from the wreckage. She heard something about Fall despite it being autumn, but what occupied the mind of the Faunus had been the dying man she saved.

She could have sworn he said, 'thank you'.

-

"Hey, you alright, Blake?"

Keeping silent, Blake simply nodded. She was the one who said she wanted to talk, but now that he was here, she found it difficult to speak up.

"I heard your teammate got hurt," Sun began. "Yang told me he'd be alright, but it must be tough. How're you holding up?"

"I-" Blake paused. "I'm fine. I just wanted to talk about something else, and you came to mind, so…"

Ruby had done enough, said enough. Yang had already helped her out once. Weiss was busy with her family matters. That left only one person she could discuss this with.

"Hey, Sun," she said at last. "Have you ever thought of what life would be like as a human?"

"Nope," Sun replied easily. "I've never bothered with things like that. I'm me, and that's enough for me. Being a Faunus or a human won't change that."

Did that mean that no matter what she was, she would be doomed to make the same mistakes?

"You're not afraid of how normal people look at you?" Blake asked. "Of how they're afraid of you and alienate you?"

"To be honest, I'm afraid of thinking that way," Sun answered. "If I end up thinking that way, I'd become unable to live with myself. I'm afraid of denying who I am; I mean, if I deny my own identity, who can tell me who I really am?"

Blake said nothing. She had always thought of Sun as an interesting person: he was happy-go-lucky and carefree, but most of all, he lived completely unrestrained by the same problems that shackled Blake. She never knew, or expected, that he would have something that he feared as well.

"I wanted to be proud of who I am," Sun went on. "I thought that if I was honest with myself, people would be honest with me. I-I don't mean to say that hiding your identity is a mistake, though!" he added hastily.

"It's okay, Sun," Blake assured him. "Thanks for telling me."

"Yeah, sure, no problem," Sun replied awkwardly. "So… Is there something else you wanted to ask?"

"Yes, but those can wait," Blake answered, standing up from the bench. Someday, she could probably come to tell him everything. Would he still accept her as a friend then? "Let's go and watch a movie after this is over, okay?"

Sun was stunned speechless.

"You don't want to?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Y-yeah! I-I mean, no! I-I mean-" Sun fumbled with his words for a few moments. Blake wondered if it was a common trait for blond boys to stutter like that. "Y-yeah, sure; that'd be great!"

"It's a date, then," Blake replied, turning to walk away.

"Blake!" Sun stood up abruptly. He was unsure of the reason for that uncertainty, but he decided to follow his gut. "It's a promise, okay? I'll be waiting."

Blake smiled.

"Of course," she said.

-

Sapphire surveyed the area Blake had chosen for their fight. They were standing in the clearing created by Sapphire's battle against the Grimm days ago, which unlike the rest of the Emerald Forest now stood bare, exposed to the clear skies overhead.

 _So if someone dies here, it won't cause a commotion,_ Sapphire reasoned inside his head. _The din won't draw an audience, either. Not bad._

He had tossed aside his school uniform, and was now wearing what appeared to be his casual attire: a grey long-sleeved collared shirt with his emblem on its back and a smaller version of it printed on the chest in front. He also wore a pair of dark grey shorts that slightly covered the top of Lifesaver, otherwise exposing the entire machine. On his arms were Daybreak and Duskfall, currently in their blade forms.

"I'd like to set up one rule before we begin," Blake declared, wielding her blade and sheath in separate hands. Sapphire raised an eyebrow, but did not protest. "You can't use that battle form you used to fight off the Grimm before."

Combat mode was forbidden. Sapphire understood the reason for that rule: with Combat Mode activated, the effects of his Semblance on his body would be stronger. In such a situation, Blake, who was a close/mid-range fighter, would lose easily in a battle of brute strength.

However, even with heightened senses, Sapphire would not be able to use most of his techniques in Combat Mode due to the resulting pain from activating it. Using it meant to forcibly trade technique for raw power and speed. Against Blake's skills, he was not sure he liked the odds of that option.

"Fine," he agreed. It worked to his advantage as well after all. "I'll add one as well: no accepting of any help from outsiders is allowed."

"Agreed," Blake replied; she too knew that Ruby, Weiss and Yang were watching this from a nearby bush. "Let's begin."

Almost instantly, Sapphire closed the distance between them, positioning Duskfall to be ready to strike. Blake evaded the incoming stab by ducking, raising her sheath to block the blade when it swung down a split second later without warning. She thrust her own blade forward, hitting the flat end of Daybreak's blade.

Pivoting his body mass on his left leg, Sapphire spun and performed a vicious roundhouse kick. Blake ducked even lower, sinking into a crouch before performing a leg sweep, catching Sapphire's left leg. Sapphire used the momentum to do a cartwheel, positioning them in such a way that his back was towards the sun.

Making use of the shadow covering his figure from Blake's view, Sapphire swung Daybreak upwards, sending up sparks when it collided with Blake's blade. Blake slashed through the air between them, catching Duskfall in the middle of a swing while parrying the overhead slash from Daybreak.

Swinging her blade and sheath in a continuous circular motion, Blake forced Sapphire back a few steps before jumping up, spinning to build up momentum. Sapphire held up his arms to block, but Blake did not follow up with a slash; instead, she had flung out her weapon, now in pistol form, attached to the black ribbon around her arm.

Knocking the pistol into the air with his right hand, Sapphire leaned forward to prepare for a charge, Duskfall drawn back and ready for a swift thrust in one fluid motion. However, the moment Blake landed on her feet, she pulled her ribbon, and an instant later a gunshot rang out before the sharp sound of impact slammed Sapphire's right hand downwards, breaking his momentum; she had fired with frightening precision at the flat end of his blade.

As Blake grabbed her weapon and pounced, Sapphire did a backflip to avoid falling over while attempting to land a hit. Blake put one hand on Lifesaver's sole in mid-air, pushing herself away from rushing into a kick and landing behind Sapphire.

This time, Blake closed the distance, using her blade and sheath to hack at Sapphire, who managed to react in the nick of time and matched her blow for blow: neck, shoulder, chest, stomach – he was able to follow Blake's movements effectively, preventing her from landing a single hit.

She was not using her Semblance. Sapphire knew what she was planning: by making him get used to these light attacks, she could catch him off guard with a sudden attack that would end his life in one hit; after all, if he was merely wounded, his Semblance would just power him up.

Trapping her blade in between his, Sapphire swung his arms downwards to his side, dragging Blake forward. He brought up his knee, but Blake kicked off against the ground and did a somersault over his head, using his shoulder as support. Taking advantage of her temporary immobility due to being in mid-air, Sapphire stabbed at her chest with Daybreak. That attack, however, was stopped forcefully.

While in mid-air, Blake let go of her weapons, using the ribbon to catch Sapphire's wrist and keep it there. She then tugged and disrupted his balance as his hand was pulled forward. In the next moment, she flung out the ribbon to catch his other wrist and in one swift movement bound them together. While she could no longer hold the sheath while managing the ribbon, Blake used her other hand to hold her blade.

Then, she used her Semblance.

Sapphire almost did not register what he was seeing; faster than he could blink, another Blake had materialized out of thin air. He barely managed to avoid the blade as it swung upwards from beyond his peripheral vision, still unable to strike back because of the ribbon.

Blake was well aware of the advantages and disadvantages of their weapon types. She could freely wield hers, which also meant that she could drop them at any time. As opposed to that, while Sapphire could not drop his weapons, once they were immobilized, so was he. At such a moment, an increased pace in attacks using clones was extremely difficult to deal with.

With a flick of his wrist, Sapphire changed both of his weapons back into their crossbow forms, jumping up to avoid another flurry of blows while using Lifesaver to block the ones he could not dodge. Blake quickly pulled him down instead of letting him fall on his feet, using more clones to confuse him.

Sapphire raised his arms, and right into Gambol Shroud's path. Instead of cleaving through cloth and skin, a loud 'clang' was heard as Sapphire forcibly pushed away the blade and fired an arrow at Blake's face.

Metal plates. His reason for choosing a long-sleeved shirt had been to hide them from view, until a moment where that surprise was needed. Using the split second's delay from the counter and from Blake's reaction to dodge his arrow, Sapphire shot another arrow at the ground, where it exploded and sent up a large cloud of smoke.

Pulling his hands out of the ribbon and switching to blade forms, Sapphire attacked Blake as she stepped out of the smoke, missing and hitting the air next to her – no. He had hit the clone which disappeared the instant his blade made contact. When he raised his arm to block the counterattack, he quickly jerked his head to the left as the blade narrowly missed his neck. The blade still swung stopped before reaching his arm, doing no damage – it was only an afterimage by a clone's movements.

Spinning around on the spot and swinging his blades, Sapphire forced Blake to put some distance between them before charging at the only one left, only to miss his swing when Blake sped off in another direction, using a clone as a foothold.

Sapphire's eyes flickered to a red hue. It was nowhere as powerful as in Combat Mode, but releasing whatever amount of it he could still boosted his abilities.

Predicting Blake's next move, Sapphire charged at her before stopping and swinging his hands violently outwards. Blake, who had intended to leap past him and slash him in the middle of that motion, was pushed back, her weapon deflected. Grabbing her sheath, she attempted to stop him with a pincer attack from the sides, but Sapphire continued to charge as though unaware. His hands were crossed in front of him, as though planning to use his arms to block a frontal attack.

As Blake's weapons closed in, Sapphire clenched his fists tightly and let go. Instantly, two bullets fired out from the hole drilled beneath the blades, hitting her weapons and pushing them away, clearing him a path straight at Blake. With a swift tug of her ribbon, Blake sent her blade flying back into her hand, propelled by the recoil from the gunshot. She managed to parry Daybreak's thrust, but Duskfall caught the side of her stomach as she twisted her body to dodge it, drawing a thin line of blood as it cut a shallow wound.

-

In the bushes, observing the fight they were barely able to follow with their eyes, the remaining members of Team RWBY watched with bated breath. Weiss was clearly the most agitated, with an expression of extreme concern and worry.

"Shouldn't we step in?" She hissed. "This looks serious!"

"No," Yang whispered back. "Blake knows what she's doing."

"They both do," Ruby said with a determined expression on her face.

"What're you saying?!" Weiss asked. "He's clearly trying to kill her!"

"No," Ruby denied outright, making Weiss go quiet out of surprise. "He's searching for something, but he just hasn't found it yet; he's not going to take her life. I'm sure Blake is trying hard to convey the answer to him right now."

"How can you tell?" Weiss and Yang asked at the same time, peeling their eyes away from the fight to stare at Ruby.

"I trust them," Ruby replied simply.

-

Sapphire was starting to feel the pain return. It was a dull pain, sure, but it was a sign that he should not be drawing out the battle any longer. As though sharing his urgency, Blake attacked with an increased sharpness in her eyes.

Instead of reaching out with his blades to block her attacks, Sapphire swung his blades and parried Blake's attacks in mid-air as the weapons made brief contact. The moment he swung a hand down to where Lifesaver was, he grabbed a pistol and fired.

Blake deflected the first two bullets, and sliced the gun in two before it could fire again. She stabbed down with her sheath, catching Sapphire across the arm. She did not aim for the weapons on his forearms, but instead tore off the metal plates affixed to the upper part of his arms. As Sapphire switched Daybreak to crossbow form while tossing a grenade between them, Blake swung her blade diagonally and caught Sapphire's shoulder, tearing off some cloth and blood.

As the grenade fell towards the ground, Blake used a clone to distract Sapphire and slashed down the moment the arrow fired at the wrong target. Sapphire swung up Duskfall, still in blade form, twisting his whole body around to parry that blow. Blake then used her sheath to slice across Sapphire's thigh, before-

The next moment, the ground beneath Sapphire's feet exploded. The grenade which he had flung earlier was a dud meant to serve as a distraction, but Blake had not fallen for it. Instead, Sapphire released a real one beneath his feet.

His blades piercing through the cloud of dust and debris, Sapphire's attack was blocked by Blake. He coordinated Daybreak' and Duskfall's actions, swinging them in tandem to leave no openings in his attack. Blake managed to keep up with his pace, parrying every blow. Occasionally, she used her clones, but Sapphire had already become accustomed to her attack pattern; he was able to accurately predict her next attack and block it before following up with a counter of his own.

Slowly being forced back while fending off Sapphire's attacks, Blake felt her arms go numb. In a battle of attrition, there was no way she could prevail with Sapphire's Semblance making him stronger. She was nearing her limit, and she was well aware of it.

Despite that, she gripped her weapon tightly.

With a powerful sideways swing, Sapphire knocked the sheath out of Blake's hand, and in the next hit the blade. Blake took a step back, but Duskfall, which had disarmed her of her sheath, was already tearing through the air and towards her neck.

Blake closed her eyes. It was fine for things to end this way.

She felt light. Even the numbness in her arms felt distant as she relaxed. Why did it feel like a burden had been removed from her shoulders, but at the same time, her chest felt constricted?

She waited. However, no matter how long she waited, she did not feel the pain. Was she not supposed to be stabbed right now?

Slowly and gingerly opening her eyes, Blake caught the reflection of the afternoon sun on the gleaming side of Duskfall's blade, its sharp tip inches away from her neck but frozen in time.

"Why?"

Sapphire's voice snapped her out of her reverie. Time had not paused; Sapphire had simply stopped his final blow. But why?

"Why didn't you fight to kill?" Sapphire asked, his expression unreadable from where Blake stood, his body still leaned forward, hand in mid-thrust.

He realized it during the last moments of their fight. She never had the intention of killing him, and even when she raised her concentration and became desperate during the last few moments, she only sought to wound. From the very beginning, she had had no intention of taking Sapphire's life.

"I…" Blake was surprised to hear her own voice when she finally spoke. She also stood, unmoving, in the position that should have spelled her end. "I couldn't."

Sapphire did not reply. Blake took a deep breath, and continued.

"I've decided," she announced. "I won't give up on my past or try to forget it. I won't deny it, because that'll be denying who I am. I want to accept the past, but also your sorrow and anger which I'm responsible for. Because my team taught me that no one should have to suffer alone.

"I made the decision to live with my past," she said, her voice gentle. "But I can't bring myself to kill a teammate. If I had to fight one, I'd rather die by their hand if it meant it would help you move on."

She could not kill him. Sapphire had believed that she had battled that way to avoid his Semblance, but she had been out to wound at worst from the beginning.

"That rule," he whispered, his voice trembling. In truth, he already knew the answer: she forbade the use of Combat Mode in the battle to prevent him from suffering the aftereffects following the battle.

From the way she limited her fighting to the very rules governing the fight, Blake had only been thinking of Sapphire's well-being the entire time while his mind thought of nothing but killing. She simply fought back so it would not be too easy for him.

When had she become the caring teammate, and him the killer instead?

From the moment they battled – no, from the moment Blake revealed her Faunus nature and decided to fight him – Sapphire had already lost in a battle of resolve.

The one who chose not to forget the past was him. Now, the one who was driven and controlled by the past was also him. The one who could not open his eyes to the present or the future, but constantly berated the past and never looking away from it, was Sapphire.

Blake accepted her past and decided to move on while acknowledging it. Even though he had said all those words believing in his own warped sense of righteousness, Sapphire never did budge from the past. In both that farce of a duel and in a clash of wills, Sapphire had lost without question.

 _It's your win,_ he muttered in his head, his body losing strength as he fell to his knees. Blake stood in front of him, her amber eyes filled with determination.

"The Monochrome you knew no longer exists," she said. "But if I ever turn my back on my friends, and return to those dark shadows, you will find her again. For now, I just want to fight with them as a team, as friends. But it's not just them; I want you to trust me and fight with us."

For what reason had he stepped into the battle? Was there a part of him that believed he would find an answer besides killing? Was there a part of him that wished for it?

Was there a part of him that did not wish to kill her, because she was a part of the team he joined, and that he wanted to have people with him? Was there a part of him that wanted to be able to rely on those whom he fought to protect? Even after losing so much?

"You're not a killer," Blake said. She knew he had taken lives, yet she uttered that lie. Because to her, it was the truth. "You're not a monster who hides in the darkness; you're just someone who stood in the shadows for too long. I know because I've crossed swords with you. I've seen the conflict in your eyes when you fought."

He did not know what to do. He did not know what to feel. He could not just throw away his past, or his motivations for such a present, such a future. But could he live with it somehow?

"I have to kill Monochrome," he said at last.

Was it alright for him to move on, then?

"But fighting alongside Blake Belladonna might not be so bad."

Was it alright for him to decide that by himself? Was it alright to step into a future like that, even while acknowledging his past?

"Should the day ever come when Monochrome returns," he said, standing up and looking into her eyes. He would not ignore the past, and he would never go back on his word. "I will kill her."

But right now, he lived in the present.

"That's fine by me," Blake replied, offering him her hand.

He would never forget the past, but he would never let himself get trapped there again.

With a smile far smaller than his usual smirk or grin, yet far more genuine by comparison, Sapphire Fall shook that hand.

Maybe people really do change.


End file.
